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July 24, 2003
July 22, 2003
Posted 8:31 AM
by Mary
Reuters
Amid Chaos, Iraqis Make Case for Help at U.N.
Tue July 22, 2003 02:32 AM ET By Evelyn Leopold
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - With the United Nations describing Iraq as a crippled society, three Iraqi delegates present their case to the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday during a major debate on post-war reconstruction.
No decision will be made about whether the Iraqis represent an interim government or will occupy Iraq's U.N. seat.
But the three, part of a new 25-member U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council, may try to declare themselves the new government of Iraq but get little response, diplomats said.
July 20, 2003
Posted 10:13 AM
by Mary
Press Release
For Immediate Release
United Methodist Board Criticizes Vote Against UN Family Planning
July 16, 2003, WASHINGTON: The social action arm of The United Methodist Church today decried action taken by the U.S. House of Representatives that rejected FY04 and FY05 funding to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) calling it a politically motivated act that will increase oppression, poverty and the spread of HIV/AIDS. The measure to withhold support of the funding passed by only five votes. "This decision will severely impact the well-being of thousands of women around the world, will increase the number of abortions, and the spread of HIV/AIDS," said Jim Winkler, General Secretary of the General Board of Church and Society. "We view this as an affront to women and to the United Nations."
In December of 2001, the U.S. Congress and President Bush approved an allocation of $34 million to UNFPA. Shortly after the bill signing, a group of Congresspersons and the Population Research Institute, a non-profit research and educational organization, urged the President to withhold the funding. They asserted that the UNFPA was supporting family planning practices in China that sometime resulted in forced abortion and/or sterilization. In May of 2002, President Bush dispatched a three-person investigative team to China that found no evidence of UNFPA's complicity and it recommended the release of the funds. The President , however, had not released the funding.
During yesterday's consideration of the State Department Authorization Bill, an amendment, offered by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Rep. Henry Hyde (R-IL), and Rep. James Oberstar (D-MN), called for the removal of language that supported the restoration of funding to UNFPA. It was approved. "The House's decision today would be understandable if proof of UNFPA's complicity in forced abortions was found by the team, but it wasn't," said Linda Bales, Director of the Louise & Hugh Moore Population Project - an initiative of the United Methodist agency. "The people paying the price are those who are most vulnerable - women and children. Far from allowing forced abortions, the UNFPA is a force for change in nations that oppress women and force sterilization and abortion."
"Obviously, this action only serves to further sever U.S. ties with the United Nations. This action of the House further distances us from that world community. The United Methodist Church is an ardent supporter of the United Nations as a forum for mobilizing resources and working cooperatively on the most critical issues faced in society. We do not support it being held hostage to funding decisions," stated Winkler.
UNFPA spends a small portion of its funds on its work in China. U.S. funding to UNFPA in past years has not been spent in China but has been held in a separate account for work in other nations.
July 19, 2003
July 18, 2003
Posted 9:25 AM
by Mary
Stretched in Iraq, US may return to UN | csmonitor.com
PARIS – Pressured by signs of fatigue and dissent among US soldiers fighting a guerrilla war in Iraq, and disappointed by allies' reluctance to join what many see as an occupation army, the US may be forced to cede some control over Iraq's future to governments who disagreed with the war.
July 15, 2003
Posted 9:13 PM
by Mary
UNIFEM’s governance advisor, Maha Muna, reported on her recent mission to Iraq and discussed upcoming initiatives, including convening a Women’s Forum to identify the needs and priorities of Iraqi women and support their participation in the transitional process as well as supporting media training for women. Women Waging Peace released the report prepared in collaboration with the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, “Winning the Peace: Women’s Role in Post-Conflict Iraq.” The report’s recommendations had been developed during a recent forum of Iraqi women and U.S. and international policymakers in Washington, D.C.
For more information, contact Rabya Nizam, at rabya.nizam@undp.org. For a copy of the report, “Winning the Peace: Women’s Role in Post-Conflict Iraq,” contact Victoria Stanski, Women Waging Peace, at Victoria_Stanski@huntalternatives.org
Posted 12:23 AM
by Mary
Scott Ritter testifies at the UN
Ex-UN Inspector Ritter: Bush Based War on 'A Lie'
Mon July 14, 2003 07:11 PM ET
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Time has shown that the United Nations did a good job disarming Iraq while President Bush went to war based on "a lie," former U.N. arms inspector Scott Ritter said on Monday.
"The inspectors went in, got good cooperation, got immediate access to the sites they needed to get to, and they found nothing -- nothing related to weapons of mass destruction programs," said Ritter, a former U.S. Marine and senior weapons inspector turned anti-war activist.
"And yet, we heard over and over again that 'The president knows that these weapons exist, the president knows that this is a threat that can only be responded to by the United States acting unilaterally,' because the United Nations was unable or unwilling to complete the (disarmament) task mandated by the Security Council," he told reporters at U.N. headquarters.
Posted 12:23 AM
by Mary
Scott Ritter testifies at the UN
Ex-UN Inspector Ritter: Bush Based War on 'A Lie'
Mon July 14, 2003 07:11 PM ET
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Time has shown that the United Nations did a good job disarming Iraq while President Bush went to war based on "a lie," former U.N. arms inspector Scott Ritter said on Monday.
"The inspectors went in, got good cooperation, got immediate access to the sites they needed to get to, and they found nothing -- nothing related to weapons of mass destruction programs," said Ritter, a former U.S. Marine and senior weapons inspector turned anti-war activist.
"And yet, we heard over and over again that 'The president knows that these weapons exist, the president knows that this is a threat that can only be responded to by the United States acting unilaterally,' because the United Nations was unable or unwilling to complete the (disarmament) task mandated by the Security Council," he told reporters at U.N. headquarters.
July 14, 2003
July 13, 2003
July 10, 2003
Posted 5:18 PM
by Mary
Deutsche Welle: World NewsOnly under UN, reply France and Germany
France and Germany have rejected a suggestion from U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that Europe's opponents of the recent war in Iraq should contribute troops for Iraq's post-war stabilisation. French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin and the German Defence Ministry said a clear UN mandate was needed first. Rumsfeld told the U.S. Senate's Armed Services Committee that the U.S. presence in Iraq was costing almost four billion dollars a month. And, he said, the USA did not go to war with Iraq because of dramatic new evidence of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. At least two U.S. soldiers were killed overnight during guerrilla attacks, in separate incidents south of Baghdad.
July 4, 2003
Posted 11:11 AM
by Mary
UN GA Resolution On Prevention Of Armed Conflict Friday, 4 July 2003, 3:10 pm Press Release: United Nations
DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL WELCOMES ADOPTION OF ‘HISTORIC RESOLUTION’ ON PREVENTION OF ARMED CONFLICT BY GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Following is the statement delivered by Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette upon the adoption of the General Assembly resolution on the prevention of armed conflict:
I am here today to warmly welcome the adoption by the General Assembly of this historic resolution on the prevention of armed conflict. In adopting this resolution, the membership is responding to the report of the Secretary-General of 2001
The Secretary-General has taken conflict prevention as one of his major priorities, pledging to move the United Nations from a culture of reaction to a culture of prevention. It was in line with this priority and in response to the Security Council debates and presidential statements of 1999 and 2000 that he prepared a comprehensive report in 2001. The Security Council endorsed the report in resolution 1366 of that same year.
Now, after two years of hard work, the General Assembly has adopted its first substantive resolution on this important issue. I hope it will become a landmark for our efforts in this field. As the Secretary-General reminded us in his report, we have an obligation to the victims of violence around the world to take seriously the challenge of prevention and to move from rhetoric to reality.
(more excerpts)
Regarding the role of the Security Council, the Assembly recommended that the Council continue to mandate peacekeeping operations and include in them peace-building elements. It encouraged the Council to give prompt consideration to early warning or prevention cases brought to its attention by the Secretary-General, and to use appropriate mechanisms, such as the Working Group on Conflict Prevention and Resolution in Africa, with due regard to relevant regional and subregional dimensions. Additionally, the Assembly reaffirmed that the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security is conferred upon the Security Council.
In addition, the Assembly called for the strengthening of cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations in the prevention of armed conflict, particularly in capacity-building and the coordination of their respective activities. For that purpose, it requested the Secretary-General to present concrete proposals for enhancing Secretariat support of those activities within his comprehensive report. Similarly, the Assembly recognized civil society’s important role in armed conflict prevention by inviting it to continue to support such efforts.
The Assembly supported the more active involvement of the Economic and Social Council with regard to the prevention of armed conflict, and welcomed ECOSOC resolution 2002/1 of 15 July 2002, which envisages the creation of ad hoc advisory groups on African countries emerging from conflicts.
As to the role of the Secretary-General, the Assembly welcomed his intention to engage within the United Nations system in a focused dialogue on what practical measures the latter needs to take to promote greater coherence in its activities aimed at the prevention or armed conflict. Also, it recommended that consideration be given to identifying the proper framework for the elaboration of system-wide coherent and action-oriented strategies within the United Nations system, at Headquarters and in the field, and for rationalizing the funding procedures for the prevention of armed conflict.
Regarding its own role, the Assembly expressed its determination to make more effective use of its powers under various and relevant Articles of the Charter for the prevention of armed conflict, and decided to consider ways of enhancing interaction with the other United Nations organs, especially the Security Council and the ECOSOC, and with the Secretary-General in developing and implementing long- and short-term measures and strategies aimed at preventing armed conflict
Text and resolution/scoop.co.nz
July 2, 2003
Posted 8:37 AM
by Mary
IRAQ: UN TO FACILITATE COUNTRYWIDE DISCUSSIONS ON ATTAINING JUSTICE FOR PAST ABUSES New York, Jul 1 2003 2:00PM United Nations envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello, fresh from a two-day workshop in Baghdad on how to ensure justice for past human rights violations by the ousted regime of Saddam Hussein, said today the world body would facilitate nationwide discussions throughout Iraq to identify further necessary action.
Mr. Vieira de Mello, Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special Representative, organized the workshop with Iraqis, international experts and members of the United States-run interim authority to determine how to attain justice for at least 300,000 people who disappeared in Saddam's detention centres and torture chambers.
"The Workshop was the first step in a long and ever-widening path in which Iraqis will participate to decide how best they should address the human rights violations of the past - not at the risk of prejudicing the future, but in order to guarantee a more peaceful, prosperous and equitable future for all the people of Iraq," his office said in a statement. "The United Nations will now facilitate nationwide discussions aimed at identifying further action required to address past violations."
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"War does not determine who is right--only who is left." - Bertrand Russell
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