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Tag: United Nation

  • Afghan condemns attack on journalists

    Afghan government Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah on Wednesday described the attack on journalists as a crime against the freedom of press and humanity.

    The UN set aside May 3 every year as World Press Freedom to celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom, to evaluate press freedom around the world and to defend the media from attacks on
    their independence.

    He assured that the government would spare no efforts to ensure the safety of journalists.

    “There is no difference between terrorists, no matter if the crime committed by Islamic State, al-Qaida, Taliban, Haqqani network or other terrorist outfit.

    “No matter which group claims responsibility for targeting journalists, it is a terrorist attack and a crime against media men and against humanity,” Abdullah said in his speech at a ceremony here to mark the World Press Day.

    The twin deadly attacks in Kabul on Monday killed at least 25 people including nine journalists, and injured 45 others including seven journalists.

    Read Also: Suicide bomber hits Shi’ite area of Afghanistan, killing seven

    The hardliner Islamic State outfit has claimed responsibility for the deadly attack.

    Abdullah also assured that the government would spare no efforts in ensuring security of media men and  media outlets in the country.

    A total of 11 Afghan journalists who used to work for national and international agencies were killed in
    the war-battered Afghanistan over the past one week.

    Earlier on Tuesday night, Afghan National Security Advisor Mohammad Hanif Atmar chaired an emergency meeting
    with media organisations and activists here and listened to their concerns, demands and suggestions.

    NAN

  • UN expert seeks review of land tenure

    The United Nation (UN) Women’s Representative to Nigeria and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Ms. Comfort Lamptey said review of the land tenure system will encourage more  women to participate in agriculture.

    Speaking at the just concluded Global Shea Alliance Conference in Abuja,Ms.Comfort Lamptey, observed that rural women face serious obstacles  accessing farm land because of the land tenure system , which denies them such opportunities , despite their growing importance in food production and food security.

    She reiterated that women in rural areas are the ones sustaining agriculture andfood production across Africa since they constitute theb ulk of farmers, but that they are the most vulnerable group with respect to access to land.

    According to her, men are five times more likely to own land than women.

    If women had the same access to productive resources as men, she stressed that they will boost national production volume with increased output from their farms.

    She wants statesto ensure that women have equal tenure rights and access to land.

     

     

  • We will respond to Obasanjo’s Coalition Movement at the right time – Tinubu

    We will respond to Obasanjo’s Coalition Movement at the right time – Tinubu

    ….Obasanjo playing politics with letter to Buhari 

    National leader of the All Progressives Congress ( APC )  and former governor of Lagos State,  Bola Tinubu, yesterday said that the party will respond to the Coalition Movement launched by former President Olusegun Obasanjo at the “appropriate time “.

    He accused Obasanjo of playing politics with his open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, where he accused him of (Buhari) of non performance.

    Tinubu who made a stop over in Owerri, the Imo State capital on his way to Anambra State for the burial ceremony of late former Vice President in the company of another APC leader, Chief Bisi Akande, insisted that Obasanjo could have exploited other better ways of communicating his observations about the Buhari’s administration other than open letter if not politically motivated. 

    According to the APC leader, who jocularly said that the letter was not written to him, “Obasanjo wrote it about the government. It is a very good awareness on his part and they are both from the same background. I believe that is the doctrine  of Military Officers (retired) because he has unrestricted access to the President, either through the Council of State or by any other means that he need to see the current President privately and he was his junior in the Army.  So I think Obasanjo was playing politics with his public letter that’s all I see. He could have used other means,  he met him in the AU too he has a way of discussing privately but the letter is being responded to by the government”.

    Also responding to the former launching of Obasanjo’s Coalition Movement, in the brief interview with journalists at the Imo State Government House,  Tinubu,  said that it is still too early to respond to the development, 

    He said, “the appropriate time is not now for response on the Coalition Movement but we are in a democracy, we are in a country that is a signatory to the Charter of the United Nation which guarantees free movement, free association and free speech”.

    On the reason for his visit, he stated that, “the governor is a very good friend and the government that is here is our government, the APC government. We are here to pay final  respect to the gentleman and Nationalist, Alex  Ekwueme”.

  • UN drums support for Nigerian women, girls

    UN drums support for Nigerian women, girls

    Nigeria must empower women and girls if the country must attain the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), UN Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed has said.

    UN Deputy Scribe argued that for a nation to make meaningful progress, women women must be part of decision-making body of the society.

    Mohammed spoke in Abuja Thursday on the findings of the UN mission on issues affecting women in Nigeria.

    She called on governments and international agencies to focus energies on supporting women and girls in Nigeria.

    Amina who until her appointment by the world body was the country’s minister of Environment also called for investment in areas that would bring greater empowerment for women as well as ensuring education of the girl child,  noting that there would be a reduction in the number of cases of violence against women and girls when they are empowered.

    She commended Nigeria’s efforts at addressing issues of violence against women and urged the country to do more, adding that the UN plans to scale up assistance for women and girls by investing more in the 17 SDGs relating to women and girls.

    “The level of sexual violence we are seeing in the camps and communities is so alarming and that I why we are seeking support from the international community to help integrate the women back to the society so that they can continue their normal life”, he said.

    Mohammed in urging Nigeria to have a zero tolerance for violence against women and girls however urged the nation to take the issue of development seriously, claiming that there is a nexus between poverty and violence against women and girls.

    Speaking on their meeting with the rescued Chibok Girls, the UN envoy commended the spirit in which the girls are handling the matter, stating that “They have overcome the initial trauma, and are now talking about their dreams”.

    Also speaking, UN under Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN women, Phumzile Mlanbo-Ngcuka, while calling for stiffer punishment for abusers of women and girls urged states that are yet to domestic the violence against women and girls act to do so.

    She as part of effort to help victims of violence recover and adjust back to society, the UN introduced the method of safe spacing in camps and communities.

    She disclosed that the UN is also considering a situation where more female soldiers would be in charge of women in most of the IDPs camps as well as putting women in charge of food and welfare.

  • Declare IPOB terror organisation, Northern youths tells UN

    Declare IPOB terror organisation, Northern youths tells UN

    A coalition of Northern youth group Friday wants the United Nation to prevail on the Nigerian government to declare the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its leader Nnamdi Kanu as terror group in line with international conventions which the country is signatory to.

    The group wants the United Nation to invoke the relevant conventions and statutes which Nigeria was signatory and compel Nigeria to declare the group as a terror group, pointing out that IPOB and its leader has contravene several provisions of the UN.

    Addressing a news conference in Abuja, spokesman of robe group, Alhaji Shettima Yerima also demanded that UN should intervene by initiate “processes of fir a peaceful referendum as the only option to finally settle the Biafra issue.”

    The group had earlier given an ultimatum to the Igbos living in all part of the north to vacate before October 1, 2017, an action that has received wide condemnation.

    Shettima said: “has finally crossed the boundaries of Nigerian laws and has blatantly breached international laws that specifically friwn at the use of terror ti achieve a goal.”

    He said they have sent a twenty pages petition to the United Nations dated 12th July, 2017, entitled: “Request for urgent intervention brought pursuant to the UN declaration on minorities; European framework convention; UN declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2007 in resolution 61/295.”

    They described as peak of insolence a statement credited to Nnamdi Kanu that he would order former President Olusegun Obasanjo and his entire family killed.

    While commending the efforts of the Acting President Yemi Osinbajo and other regional leaders toward ensuring lasting peace and stability in the country, Shettima alleged that Kanu and IPOB remained undaunted and “even intensified their violent divisive campaign whuch is the main borne of contention.”

    They, however, demanded that “the UN invokes the relevant stattutes to which Nigeria is a signatory to pronounce Kanu and IPOB as terror outfit proscribe their activities and initiate criminal actions against them.

    “Since it is becoming all the more obvious by the way IPOB and Kanu enjoy massive support from the Igbos back home, the issue of the drive for Biafra nation is still a boiling issue. We urged the UN to intervene by initiating processes for a peaceful referendum as the only option to finally settle the Biafra issue.”

     

  • Ebola: WHO deploys new technology for rapid diagnosis in DRC

    The World Health Organisation (WHO) said it had deployed new technology that allowed for rapid diagnosis of Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

    WHO said in a statement that in collaboration with the DRC’s Ministry of Health and partners, it had rapidly set up an intensified field alert and response system resulting in early identification of suspect cases detected in the affected zone.

    The DRC is using these new tools, as well as classic ones, to respond to an ongoing outbreak of the virus in a very remote area of the north east of the country, it said.

    The world health body said scientists now quickly gathered samples, shipped them to Kinshasa and tested them at the National Institute of Biomedical Research (INRB).

    “One of the technologies being used to detect Ebola in DRC is GeneXpert, which was primarily developed to detect cases of tuberculosis, but has been adapted to enable rapid testing of many pathogens – HIV, malaria, STIs, and Ebola.

    “At the INRB laboratory in Kinshasa – with support from USAID, WHO, Canada, the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) and the Emerging and Dangerous Pathogens Laboratory Network (EDPLN) – technicians can use GeneXpert to test for the Zaire strain of Ebola in just one hour.

    “For samples that are negative, further testing is then undertaken to check for other strains of Ebola, other viral haemorrhagic fevers, or other diseases.

    “Other tests developed during the West African outbreak are also being deployed, such as OraQuick – a rapid diagnostic test, which has been developed with the support of the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and GOARN.

    “In the field, OraQuick can test blood or saliva samples for Ebola in just half an hour,” the UN health agency said.

    Even if many or all suspect cases now being tested are negative, it remains vital to actively follow contacts of all confirmed, probable, suspect cases for 21 days, and then to continue enhanced surveillance for an additional 21-day period, it said.

    “Any period of calm is an opportunity to continue building and reinforcing local and country preparedness and response capacities and ensuring rapid investigation teams are ready in case the virus should resurface”.

    This is the eighth outbreak of Ebola virus disease in the DRC since the disease was discovered in the 1970s in the country, WHO said.

    “Health authorities in this country are recognised throughout the African region and the world as experts in responding to outbreaks of this disease,” it said.

    Since the major outbreak in West Africa in 2014, an increasing number of diagnostic tools have become available to perform rapid initial testing of samples, the UN agency said.

  • Celebrating World Telecommunication Day

    Celebrating World Telecommunication Day

    Gone are the days when various telecommunication gizmos where the exclusive preserve of the rich. It is funny now, but just a few years ago, (more specifically, between the year 2000 and 2003), the cost of a mobile phone was on the high end; talkless of the price of a Sim Card.

    Today, the old woman down the street who sells herbs (alaagbo) has at least one mobile phone, the fashion designer has literally taken his business to the cloud (internet), and in a more jocular manner, we hear that Babalawos (traditional herbalists) now contact the deity using Google.

    All these are pointers to the plethora benefits of the telecommunication revolution in our dear nation – Nigeria.

    Going back to the annals of history, we understand that early means of communicating over a distance included visual signals such as beacons, smoke signals, telegraphs, signal flags, optical heliographs etc.

    Other examples of pre-modern long-distance communication included audio messages such as coded drumbeats, lung-blown horns, and loud whistles.

    The wake of the 20th century witnessed some kind of renaissance and innovations, especially when it pertains to long distance communication. Electrical and electromagnetic technologies, such as telegraph, telephone, teleprinter, networks, radio, microwave transmission, fiber optics, and communications satellites were prominent.

    The theme for this year World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD) is “Big Data For Big Impact”. It focuses on the power of Big Data for development and aims to explore how to turn imperfect, complex, often unstructured data into actionable information in a development context.

    The purpose of World Telecommunication and Information Society Day (WTISD) is to help raise awareness of the possibilities that the use of the Internet and other information and communication technologies (ICT) can bring to societies and economies, as well as of ways to bridge the digital divide.

    Information gathering is a major boon for any nation, therefore, the fierce urgency to garner the demographic statistics of the denizens of a country. This way the policy and administrative wonks can forge a template for macro manpower planning and make informed economic decisions.

    Analysed data generated from telecommunication companies can strongly complement the evidence-based nature of decision-making that can be leveraged at national, regional and international levels to drive success towards attaining all 17 of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030.

    In more practical terms, Telecommunication is the transmission of signs, signals, messages, words, writings, images and sounds or intelligence of any nature by wire, radio, optical or other electromagnetic systems. It occurs when the exchange of information between communication participants includes the use of technology.

    The impact of telecommunication on education has become so enormous that it cannot be expressed on a sheet of paper. Of course, the functionality of the various distant learning programmes situated all over, which is on the increase on a daily basis, wouldn’t have been possible without the telecommunication system such as the internet.

    More so, the series of educative programmes, soap operas, and what have you, being televised by the various television stations across the country can also be included as one of the avenues that have encouraged distant learning.

    As regards politics, telecommunication has recently proven to the citizenry that they can as well observe any electoral activity such as voting and counting of election results from their respective homes without stepping out of their premises.

    The recent Presidential primary election conducted by the All Progressives Congress (APC), which was observed by every Nigerian both home abroad, is a good example of the said practice. Such has helped to improve transparency during elections, thereby avoiding occurrence of various possible electoral malpractices and crises.

    It is no longer news that millions of Nigerians are currently employed by several telecommunication companies operating in the country. Statistics show that over fifteen percent (15%) of Nigerian citizens are engaged with various telecom firms. Suffice it to say that the telecommunication industry is one of the major employers of labour in Nigeria, likewise other countries across the globe.

    Though telecommunication technologies play a very vital role in the social, economic, and even political development of any nation, it’s noteworthy that several anomalies need to be addressed in the sector in question.

    A situation whereby uncensored films, pictures or music are disseminated either via the television or the social media is totally unwholesome to the state of any nation, thus ought to be looked into by the relevant authorities such as the Nigerian Communications Communication (NCC) and the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC).

    Finally, the incessant and opportunistic billing of customers by these telecommunication companies needs to be put on the leash and curtailed. Customers should be able to get real value for their monies – whether it be for data or calls.

  • UN to honour three fallen Nigerian peacekeepers

    UN to honour three fallen Nigerian peacekeepers

    The United Nation Headquarters will observe the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers on Thursday, 19 May 2016. It will mark the eighth successive year in which the Organization will honour more than 100 “blue helmets” who lost their lives the previous year while serving the cause of peace.

    Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will lay a wreath to honour all fallen peacekeepers and will preside over a ceremony at which the Dag Hammarskjöld Medal will be awarded posthumously to 128 military, police and civilian personnel who lost their lives while serving in peacekeeping operations during 2015.

    Three fallen peacekeepers from Nigeria are among the 128 who will posthumously receive the Dag Hammarskjold medal — Police Chief Superintendent Michael Onuoh, who served with the UN Mission in South Sudan; Mr. Oladipo ONI who served as an international staff member of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSC); and Mr. Salisu O. ADEYEMI who was a United Nations Volunteer deployed with the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL).
    In a message to mark the Day, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said: “On this Day we honour our heroes – the more than one million men and women who have served under the United Nations flag with pride, distinction and courage since the first deployment in 1948. And we pay our highest tribute to the more than 3,400 peacekeepers, who have lost their lives while in service during that period.”

    Today, more than 105,000 uniformed personnel from 124 troop- and police-contributing countries serve under the blue flag, along with 18,000 international and national civilian staff and United Nations Volunteers.
    Nigeria is the twelfth largest contributor of military and police personnel to the United Nations with 2,810 currently serving in 10 peacekeeping operations.
    In addition to maintaining peace and security, peacekeepers are increasingly charged with assisting in political processes; reforming judicial systems; training law enforcement and police forces; disarming and reintegrating former combatants; supporting the return of internally displaced persons and refugees.
    In the words of the Secretary-General, “They manifest the best attributes of global solidarity, courageously serving in dangerous environments to provide security to some of the world’s most vulnerable.”

    Hervé Ladsous, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, said:  “Over 120,000 men and women – military, police and civilians — today serve in 16 missions world-wide. Our peacekeepers are deployed in some of the world’s most dangerous and austere environments. Too many of them have paid the ultimate price while serving under the blue flag in the name of peace. Today, we pay tribute to their memory by rededicating ourselves to the ideals for which they have sacrificed so much.”

    According to Atul Khare, Under-Secretary-General for Field Support “The sacrifices of the brave men and women of peacekeeping inspire us to serve with courage and dignity and to pursue continuous improvement and innovation in our work. We owe this not just to our departed colleagues, but also to the millions of civilians that we have been entrusted to protect. We must continue to work together to enable complex operations to succeed with rapid, effective, efficient and responsible support.”
    The International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers was established by the General Assembly in 2002, in tribute to all men and women serving in peacekeeping operations for their high level of professionalism, dedication and courage, and to honour the memory of those who have lost their lives in the cause of peace.  The Assembly designated 29 May as the Day because it was the date in 1948 when the United Nations’ first peacekeeping mission, the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO),began operations.

    Commemorative activities will be held at United Nations Headquarters on the 19th to enable the Heads of the Military Components of UN peacekeeping operations, who will be present in New York this week, to join the Secretary-General in observing the Day. UN peacekeeping operations, UN Information Centres and other UN offices around the world will observe the Day on or around the 29th.

  • Build continent-wide policy – UN conference tells Africa

    Build continent-wide policy – UN conference tells Africa

    The Economic Development in Africa Report 2015 by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has said that better leveraging of services trade in Africa could yield major employment and growth benefits.

    The report subtitled “Unlocking the Potential of Africa’s Services Trade for Growth and Development” argued that the ongoing negotiations towards a continental free trade agreement offer a unique opportunity to align national and regional policies on services trade to that end.

    Officially launched in Lagos Nigeria, the report also argues that building continent-wide policy coherence in financial services would boost economic productivity and help reduce poverty.

    “Africa must bridge the policy disconnect of services trade in order to unlock the sector’s potential for the continent’s growth and economic transformation.

    “Furthermore, the impact of a continent-wide free trade area will only be meaningful for Africa if services are opened up in parallel with trade in goods. This is because services, such as transport and storage services, are necessary components of trade in goods,” UNCTAD Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi said.

    According to the report, the establishment of a continental free trade agreement, most recently on the agenda at an African Union summit in June 2015, is in itself a unique opportunity for African countries to align their existing national, regional and global policies on services trade.

    It also found that many national development plans mention services trade as a vehicle for development but fail to link it to existing regional plans or regulation on services in the context of their regional economic communities.

    For example, several countries such as Burkina Faso have become leading exporters of cultural services, and Kenya and Senegal of business process outsourcing, but these sectors are not integrated with the countries’ commitments made at the World Trade Organization.

    Another major area identified by the report where African Governments need to make efforts in aligning the existing national, regional and multilateral regulatory frameworks, is in the financial services sector.

    The report argues, for example, that it is important for African countries to extensively examine how to align their domestic financial sector regulation with existing regional regulation, as some regional economic communities already have some protocols in place covering aspects of financial sector integration and/or investment at the regional level. This is the case of the Arab Maghreb Union, the East African Community, the Economic Community of West African States and the Southern African Development Community.

    These protocols envisage the free movement of capital in their respective subregions and will need to be adequately reflected in national policy and regulation so that financial market integration becomes a reality.

    At national level, the report recommends that services trade be adequately mainstreamed into national development plans. This requires that a policy formulation exercise be informed by country-wide consultations with all the major stakeholders.

    At regional level, the report notes that greater coherence could be achieved if a pan-African mechanism is established to allow for the continuous consultation and coordination of a regional agenda and concerns relating to services trade that arise within the regional economic communities and the African Union.

  • United Nations condemn Chad bombing

    United Nations condemn Chad bombing

    The United nations (UN) Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon has strongly condemned the bombings in N’Djamena, Republic of Chad, which reportedly killed more than 25 people and injured dozens of others.

    The Secretary-General extends his heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and to the Government and people of Chad. He wishes a speedy recovery to those injured in the attack. 

    Mr Ban Ki-moon commends Chad for its courageous role in the fight against Boko Haram, while stressing the importance of enhanced collaboration among countries in West and Central Africa to effectively combat the threat of Boko Haram.

    In that regard, he welcomes positive developments on the operationalization of the Multi-National Joint Task Force. 

    The Secretary-General reiterates that States must ensure that all measures taken to address the terrorist threat of Boko Haram comply with all their obligations under international humanitarian, human rights and refugee law.