UNICYEM

1. UN News Centre - 20 December 2005 

In an historic action that brings to fruition a central reform proposed by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the 2005 World Summit, the Security Council and the General Assembly today acted in concert to establish a new body that aims to prevent countries emerging from conflict from falling back into chaos. “That word, historic, is often over-used, but in this case, I have no doubt that it is merited,” the President of the 60th General Assembly, Jan Eliasson of Sweden, said in introducing the resolution that established the 31-member Peacebuilding Commission.  “This resolution would, for the first time in the history of the United Nations, create a mechanism which ensures that for countries emerging from conflict, post-conflict does not mean post-engagement of the international community,” he said. Around 50 per cent of the conflicts of the past 20 years have recurred within five years of peace agreements, Mr. Eliasson added at a press conference after the resolutions’ adoption.  “When the cameras disappear, the attention also disappears and five years later you pay an enormously heavy price, and people pay a very heavy price. This is what we are trying to repair when we fill this institutional gap,” he said. Today’s resolutions defined the new Commission as an intergovernmental advisory body that will make sure attention is maintained on the countries in question, setting its agenda at the request of the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the Secretary-General, or Member States on the “verge of lapsing or relapsing into conflict.”  According to the resolutions, the Commission will act only by consensus, proposing integrated strategies for stabilization, economic recovery and development, and providing recommendations for improving the coordination of the UN system in those efforts. The establishment of the Commission fulfills a key outcome of the 2005 Summit in New York, which committed Member States to creating it by the end of this year. It comes just about a week after the first major Summit reform was enacted by the creation of the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) that will keep cash at hand for saving lives in sudden-onset emergencies. Among other priorities of that Summit were a new Human Rights Council, also due around year’s end, and a comprehensive convention on terrorism to be completed during the current session of the Assembly, which ends on 30 September 2006. All three issues have undergone intense and protracted negotiations. In regard to the Peacebuilding Commission, Mr. Eliasson said the most contentious issues were reporting lines and membership. Today’s resolutions prescribed that membership will consist of seven Security Council members, including permanent members, selected by the Council; seven members of ECOSOC elected from regional groups, five top contributors to UN budgets, funds, programmes and agencies; and five top providers of military personnel and civilian police to United Nations missions. The General Assembly would elect seven additional members, with special consideration for States that have experienced post-conflict recovery. Thanking Mr. Eliasson for his hard work bringing about consensus on the new Commission, Secretary-General Annan stressed that more hard work lies ahead in making sure the Commission functions properly, “if it is truly to make a difference, not in these halls but in the countries where its help is needed.” “In short,” he said in a statement released today, “it is vital that the momentum of this reform is sustained. But right now, we have real reason to be satisfied.”

2. UN News Centre - 1 January 2006 

The United Nations today launched its International Year of Deserts and Desertification to raise global public awareness of the advancing deserts, of ways to safeguard the biological diversity of arid lands covering one-third of the planet and protecting the knowledge and traditions of the 2 billion people affected by the phenomenon. The Secretariat of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) stressed the importance of recognizing that in addition to the human and environmental cost of the degradation that contributes to the problem, the drylands are the location of some of the most magnificent ecosystems of this world: the deserts. Summarizing the treaty's goals, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said: "I look forward to working with Governments, civil society, the private sector, international organizations and others to focus attention on this crucial issue, and to make every day one on which we work to reverse the trend of desertification and set the world on a safer, more sustainable path of development."  Desertification and drought cause an estimated loss of $42 billion a year from agricultural production, contribute to food insecurity, famine and poverty and can give rise to social, economic and political tensions that can cause conflicts, further impoverishment and land degradation, according to the Convention's Secretariat. “It is widely recognized that environmental degradation has a role to play in considerations of national security, as well as international stability. Therefore, desertification has been seen as a threat to human security," UNCCD Executive Secretary Hama Arba Diallo added. At the same time, these natural habitats with their incredibly diverse fauna have been home to some of the world's oldest civilizations and the Convention's Secretariat hopes the Year will also celebrate the fragile beauty and unique heritage of the world's deserts, which deserve protection. The Convention's 10th anniversary will be marked in December 1996. Currently, the Convention counts 191 states parties, making it one of the most representative instruments on environmental protection stemming from the 1992 Rio “Earth Summit.” Prominent among the international celebrations will be a weeklong film festival in June in Rome, called “Desert Nights,” with documentaries and feature films on people in the drylands. The best fiction films from countries affected by desertification within the five regions of the convention – Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Northern Mediterranean and Central and Eastern Europe – will win awards. The honorary spokespersons for the year are Nobel Peace Laureate Wangari Maathai of Kenya, Environment Minister Cherif Rahmani of Algeria and Bulgarian international football star and Golden Boot winner Hristo Stoitchkov.

3. Launch of ‘Strengthening the Juvenile Justice System in Yemen 2010-2012’ project

 

UNICEF Sana’a, 6 March 2010 A three-year project to strengthen juvenile justice systems in Yemen was launched today by the Ministry of Justice, in cooperation with the Ministry of Human Rights, the Delegation of the European Union and UNICEF. The project aims to offer alternatives to detention and access to services at the pre-trial, trial and post-trial stages, and to promote the social reintegration of juveniles in conflict with the law and community-based prevention. The European Union has provided 3.5 million Euro to UNICEF for project, and UNICEF will contribute the remaining 700,000 Euro from its regular resources.

4. UNHCR approves an internal loan to sustain its Yemen operation

UNHCR - 23 February 2010 This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Andrej Mahecic – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at the press briefing, on 23 February 2010, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. Faced with an acute funding shortfall for its Yemen operation, UNHCR has approved an internal loan amounting to US$ 4.7 million in order to continue programmes for hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people (IDPs) in this country until mid-year. This step is an alternative to scaling down or suspending UNHCR's protection and assistance programmes which would have an adverse and irreversible impact on a civilian population forcibly displaced by seven months of conflict between the government and Al Houti movement in northern Yemen. A weak donor response this year threatens our operational capacity and protection efforts to register and document some 250,000 IDPs, to monitor their situation and to address their humanitarian needs – giving special attention to those most vulnerable – namely children, women and elderly.

5. UNIC Sana’a holds Human Rights seminar with Sana'a University

January 9, 2010 To celebrate Human Rights Day the United Nations Information Centre in Sana’a (UNIC Sana'a) together with the Sana'a University organized a seminar titled, "Human Rights: Challenges and Responsibili- ties.” University professors, members of the UN Family and students took part during the seminar.

6. YEMEN: “Dire” IDP situation made worse by cold weather

SANAA, 7 January 2010 (IRIN) The plight of tens of thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) living in tents or deserted houses in the volatile northern Yemeni governorate of Saada and surrounding areas is worsening because of cold winter weather, aid workers and local officials warn. “The already dire situation due to the armed conflict is being made worse by falling temperatures, particularly in Saada Governorate and surrounding areas," said Rabab al-Rifai, spokesperson in Yemen for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which runs five IDP camps in Saada in cooperation with the Yemen Red Crescent (YRC).

7. UN System and Yemen Celebrate Human Rights Day

December 20, 2009 Human Rights day in Yemen was observed with a renewed commitment and a call to rally around the message of “Embrace Diversity, End Discrimination”. Organized by the Ministry of Human Rights with the support of the United Nations System in Yemen, the even was largely attended officials from government agencies.