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April 14, 2003
Posted 7:54 PM
by Mary
Following the looting of the National Archaeological Museum of Baghdad, UNESCO has called on American and British authorities to take immediate measures to protect Iraq's archaeological sites and cultural institutions. The agency has also asked regional and international police organizations to join forces with it to prevent trafficking in the stolen antiquities.
In a letter of 11 April 2003 addressed to the American authorities, UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura emphasized the urgent need to preserve collections and a heritage considered to be one of the richest in the world. He in particular insisted on the necessity of assuring military protection for the Archaeological Museum of Baghdad and the Mosul Museum. He made a similar request to the British authorities concerning the Basra region in the south. To prevent the illicit export of Iraqi cultural goods, Mr. Matsuura contacted the authorities of countries bordering Iraq and international police and customs officials to ensure respect of the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property.
He asked INTERPOL, the World Customs Organization, the International Confederation of Art and Antiquities Dealer Associations (CINOA), the International Council of Museums (ICOM), the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), and the principal actors of the art market to join forces with UNESCO in a "comprehensive mobilization so that stolen objects should not find their way to acquirers".
April 13, 2003
Posted 2:58 PM
by Mary
WFUNA Urges Security Council Members to Agree on a Common Plan of Action for UN Involvement in Iraq
The World Federation of United Nations Associations (WFUNA) lends full support to the efforts of Secretary-General Kofi Annan to encourage members of the Security Council to agree upon a new UN resolution authorizing the necessary security, humanitarian, reconstruction, and political measures required for post-conflict Iraq. Such a resolution would open the door for NATO, the European Union, and the World Bank, among others, to play useful and appropriate roles.
As the original peoples movement in support of the United Nations, WFUNA urges Council members to focus on the importance of the people of Iraq being able to determine their own political future. The UN should do whatever is possible to help provide and coordinate humanitarian assistance and international efforts for the rehabilitation and restructuring of Iraq economy.
Kofi Annan appointment of Mr Rafeeuddin Ahmed, a Pakistani, as Special Adviser is welcome evidence that the UN is already engaged in contingency planning for any role that the Security Council might mandate the UN system to carry out in the post-conflict situation. The UN role in establishing a government in Afghanistan may provide a useful parallel as to what can be done.
As the UN Secretary-General has said, UN involvement is essential for the legitimacy of any new governmental authority established in Iraq and for the stability of the region as a whole.
WFUNA New York office One UN Plaza, DC1 1177 Phone 212 963 5610; Fax 212 963 0447; Email wfunany@wfuna.org www.wfuna.org
April 10, 2003
Posted 8:52 AM
by Mary
HUMANITARIAN CRISIS LOOMS IN IRAQ BECAUSE OF BREAKDOWN OF LAW AND ORDER - UN New York, Apr 9 2003 3:00PM United Nations relief agencies warned today that looting and the breakdown of law and order in Iraq threatened to unleash a humanitarian crisis as their operations were obstructed, and they called on the occupying military forces to afford the necessary security for their aid work to function.
The collapse of civilian authority in the two largest cities, Baghdad and Basra, must be addressed by the occupying military forces, which have responsibility under international humanitarian law to maintain a secure environment for the civilian population, a spokesman for the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq (UNHCOI) told the daily briefing in Amman, Jordan, on UN humanitarian activities.
April 3, 2003
Posted 11:41 PM
by Mary
By Colum Lynch Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, April 4, 2003; Page A31
UNITED NATIONS, April 3 -- A senior U.N. relief official said today that the overwhelming financial and political costs of rebuilding Iraq after the war would force the United States to eventually grant the United Nations and the international community a broader hand in shaping the country's future.
Mark Malloch Brown, the administrator of the U.N. Development Program, said Iraq's oil earnings would be woefully inadequate to fund a reconstruction bill that experts say could reach as high as $100 billion. He also said the persistence of armed opposition to coalition forces could severely limit the capacity of U.S. authorities and companies to work in large sections of the country are not pacified.
"We may face a situation where the American humanitarian writ after a possible fall of the government is not as universal as presently assumed," Malloch Brown said. "It does not yet seem entirely clear to us that . . . there will be clear U.S. control of all the territory of Iraq. The United States as belligerent party will not have easy access to significant parts of the country."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23917-2003Apr3.html
Posted 9:19 PM
by Mary
Draft Report of the NGO Sub-Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
Program Summary for March 20th 2003 In recognition of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
A meeting review by Thema Bryant-Davis is posted on cebo.org/racism
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Posted 8:54 PM
by Mary
IRAQ: UN AID AGENCIES APPEAL FOR EMERGENCY FUNDS FOR HEALTH AND OTHER RELIEF New York, Apr 3 2003 2:00PM With water shortages still posing a major concern in Iraq, United Nations aid agencies today appealed for a swifter and more generous response to the $2.2 billion UN appeal launched last week to tackle growing health and other emergencies.
Unless more money is forthcoming to help tackle the health needs of the Iraqi people, children will die unnecessarily of diarrhoeal disease, women will die in childbirth and there will be a chronic shortage of medicines and other medical supplies in increasingly hard-pressed hospitals, the World Health Organization (WHO) told the daily briefing in Amman, Jordan, on UN humanitarian activities.
Spokesperson Fadela Chaib said that six days after appealing for more than $300 million to support the urgent health needs of the Iraqi people over the next six months UN BRIEFING, WHO had received only $3 million.
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"War does not determine who is right--only who is left." - Bertrand Russell
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