Press Release 220/2012
24 September 2012
The first high-level meeting of the General Assembly dedicated solely to the rule of law is taking place during the 67the UN General Assembly next Monday. World leaders will focus on strengthening the rule of law, underlining its role in securing international peace and security, furthering development and in the achievement of universal human rights. The meeting will bring together governments and civil society to review progress made and challenges that exist at the national and international level to strengthen the rule of law.
On 24th September, on the occasion of the High Level Meeting on the Rule of Law, the Governments of Finland and South Africa, along with UN Women, will host a high level event focusing on women’s access to justice. Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr Ban Ki-Moon, the President of Finland, Mr Sauli Niinistö and the President of South Africa, Mr Jacob Zuma, Executive Director of UN Women, Ms Michelle Bachelet and Nobel Laureate, Ms Shirin Ebadi are among speakers.
Today, the rule of law often rules women out. Obstacles persist which prevent women from accessing legal protection for their rights, resulting in discrimination and inequality that hamper women’s ability to live free of violence and to contribute as full and equal citizens. These obstacles can be overcome through dedicated action by all. Ahead of the meeting, Governments of Finland and South Africa and UN Women are calling on governments to show strong commitment, and accelerate actions and policies to increase women’s access to justice and foster a responsive justice system that advances women’s equal rights.
At the event, governments will be invited to make concrete commitments to policy actions and highlight initiatives to advance women’s access to justice.
The event will be webcasted live at http://webtv.un.org (on Monday 24 September, at 20.00-21.45 current local time in Finland)
For additional information please contact: Head of Unit Satu Suikkari-Kleven, satu.suikkari-kleven(a)formin.fi, tel. +358 40 760 3578, Counsellor Liisa Valjento, liisa.valjento(a)formin.fi, tel. +358 40 350 6148, Press Secretary Pirjo-Liisa Heikkilä, The Permanent Mission of Finland to the UN, pirjo-liisa.heikkila(a)formin.fi, tel. +1 917 294 3915
Source: Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland
Showing posts with label Ban Ki-moon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ban Ki-moon. Show all posts
Monday, September 24, 2012
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Ivory Coast: Embattled Leader’s Offer
The Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo said Tuesday night that he would accept a “commission of investigation” from overseas to examine the results of the presidential election last month, which the United Nations and foreign powers say he lost to Alassane Ouattara. Speaking on state television, Mr. Gbagbo said he did not “want any more bloodshed.” Meanwhile, the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, expressed concern over the safety of the peacekeeping mission in Ivory Coast; Nigeria evacuated its diplomats; the United States announced a travel ban on Mr. Gbagbo and his associates; and Mr. Ouattara’s government called for a campaign of “disobedience.”
Source: New York Times
Source: New York Times
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Côte d’Ivoire's Gbagbo tells UN to leave, Ban refuses
Côte d’Ivoire incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo on Saturday ordered United Nations and French troops to leave the country, but UN chief Ban Ki-moon rejected the demand, saying his blue helmets would not budge. Both the UN and the former colonial power, France, have urged Gbagbo to concede defeat in a November 28 poll, which was meant to heal the wounds of the West African state's 2002-03 civil war but has instead reopened them.
Spokesperson Jacqueline Oble read a statement on state television saying the government wanted the UNOCI and LICORNE missions forces to leave Côte d’Ivoire, "and is opposed to any renewal of their mandate." "UNOCI has interfered seriously in the internal affairs of Côte d’Ivoire," she said.
Ban responded with his own statement issued by UN spokesperson Farhan Haq, who made clear that the UNOCI peacekeeping force had no intention of pulling out of Côte d’Ivoire, the world's top cocoa producer. "The Secretary-General [Ban Ki-moon] is aware of statements by Mr. Gbagbo's spokesperson calling for the withdrawal of the UN Operation in Cote d'Ivoire (UNOCI)," Haq said. "UNOCI will fulfil its mandate and will continue to monitor and document any human rights violations, incitement to hatred and violence, or attacks on UN peacekeepers," Haq said in a statement.
Ban has said that Gbagbo must step down and hand power to opposition leader Alassane Ouattara, who the UN says won the run-off election. The country has been in turmoil since Gbagbo claimed victory in the election with backing from the pro-Gbagbo Constitutional Council, the nation's highest legal body, rejecting as fraudulent results showing that he had lost by nearly 8% to Ouattara.
Almost all world leaders have also recognised Ouattara's victory and demanded that Gbagbo step down. The UN mission includes some 10 000 soldiers and police, and is supported by the French LICORNE force. Hundreds of peacekeepers have been deployed to defend Ouattara's makeshift headquarters in Abidjan's lagoon-side Golf Hotel. At least 20 people were killed on Thursday in clashes between pro-Ouattara marchers and security forces. Former rebels supporting Ouattara also briefly exchanged fire with government soldiers.
Several Western diplomats in New York told Reuters that Gbago had no legal authority to order UN and French peacekeepers out of the country since he lost the election. They said only Ouattara had that authority now. Ban has warned of the potential for a resumption of civil war and called on all sides to avoid triggering further violence. Haq said Ban was "deeply concerned" about attacks on UN troops by forces who appeared to be loyal to Gbagbo. The leader of Gbagbo's feared Young Patriots militia group, Ble Goude, told Reuters they may march on the hotel where Ouattara is staying to force him out. And at a rally of several thousand in the poor neighbourhood of Yopougon, he called on his militia to "liberate" Côte d’Ivoire. "We will defend the sovereignty of our country," Goude, also Gbagbo's youth minister, said. "We ask them [the UN] to leave our country. Get ready, because from next Friday I will need you for the total liberation of Côte d’Ivoire."
The United States, France and the European Union have heaped pressure on Gbagbo to step down, threatening sanctions if he does not do so within days. A top US State Department official told Reuters on Friday that Gbagbo had also been offered a "soft landing" in exile in an African country if he steps down. But a Gbagbo spokesperson said Gbagbo had no intention of leaving.
Gbagbo came to power in 2000 after a disputed election against coup leader Robert Guei, and two years later survived a rebellion that split the country into a rebel-held north and his government-controlled south. The turmoil in the world's top grower of cocoa raised cocoa futures to four-month highs in recent weeks, though futures prices have since eased, with second-month cocoa in New York settling down nearly 2% on Friday.
Source: Mail & Guardian
Spokesperson Jacqueline Oble read a statement on state television saying the government wanted the UNOCI and LICORNE missions forces to leave Côte d’Ivoire, "and is opposed to any renewal of their mandate." "UNOCI has interfered seriously in the internal affairs of Côte d’Ivoire," she said.
Ban responded with his own statement issued by UN spokesperson Farhan Haq, who made clear that the UNOCI peacekeeping force had no intention of pulling out of Côte d’Ivoire, the world's top cocoa producer. "The Secretary-General [Ban Ki-moon] is aware of statements by Mr. Gbagbo's spokesperson calling for the withdrawal of the UN Operation in Cote d'Ivoire (UNOCI)," Haq said. "UNOCI will fulfil its mandate and will continue to monitor and document any human rights violations, incitement to hatred and violence, or attacks on UN peacekeepers," Haq said in a statement.
Ban has said that Gbagbo must step down and hand power to opposition leader Alassane Ouattara, who the UN says won the run-off election. The country has been in turmoil since Gbagbo claimed victory in the election with backing from the pro-Gbagbo Constitutional Council, the nation's highest legal body, rejecting as fraudulent results showing that he had lost by nearly 8% to Ouattara.
Almost all world leaders have also recognised Ouattara's victory and demanded that Gbagbo step down. The UN mission includes some 10 000 soldiers and police, and is supported by the French LICORNE force. Hundreds of peacekeepers have been deployed to defend Ouattara's makeshift headquarters in Abidjan's lagoon-side Golf Hotel. At least 20 people were killed on Thursday in clashes between pro-Ouattara marchers and security forces. Former rebels supporting Ouattara also briefly exchanged fire with government soldiers.
Several Western diplomats in New York told Reuters that Gbago had no legal authority to order UN and French peacekeepers out of the country since he lost the election. They said only Ouattara had that authority now. Ban has warned of the potential for a resumption of civil war and called on all sides to avoid triggering further violence. Haq said Ban was "deeply concerned" about attacks on UN troops by forces who appeared to be loyal to Gbagbo. The leader of Gbagbo's feared Young Patriots militia group, Ble Goude, told Reuters they may march on the hotel where Ouattara is staying to force him out. And at a rally of several thousand in the poor neighbourhood of Yopougon, he called on his militia to "liberate" Côte d’Ivoire. "We will defend the sovereignty of our country," Goude, also Gbagbo's youth minister, said. "We ask them [the UN] to leave our country. Get ready, because from next Friday I will need you for the total liberation of Côte d’Ivoire."
The United States, France and the European Union have heaped pressure on Gbagbo to step down, threatening sanctions if he does not do so within days. A top US State Department official told Reuters on Friday that Gbagbo had also been offered a "soft landing" in exile in an African country if he steps down. But a Gbagbo spokesperson said Gbagbo had no intention of leaving.
Gbagbo came to power in 2000 after a disputed election against coup leader Robert Guei, and two years later survived a rebellion that split the country into a rebel-held north and his government-controlled south. The turmoil in the world's top grower of cocoa raised cocoa futures to four-month highs in recent weeks, though futures prices have since eased, with second-month cocoa in New York settling down nearly 2% on Friday.
Source: Mail & Guardian
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Standoff Set Up With 2 Ivory Coast Presidents
Defying international observers and the country’s own electoral commission, officials tied to President Laurent Gbagbo on Friday declared him the winner of a landmark election in this troubled West African nation, potentially setting the stage for the kind of violence and division that the long-awaited voting was supposed to prevent.
The announcement, made by the Constitutional Council, came only a day after the country’s top election official said Mr. Gbagbo’s challenger had won the election by a solid margin, 54.1 to 45.9 percent — a result the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, also endorsed on Friday. The United Nations has a role in certifying the elections, and both Mr. Ban and his longtime special representative here made it clear there was only one winner of last Sunday’s vote: the opposition candidate, Alassane Ouattara.
The conflicting declarations left the country in a strange limbo, with two men declared president, and on Friday Mr. Gbagbo’s government found itself under increasing isolation, some of it self-imposed. It has ordered the country’s borders sealed, blocked all foreign television and radio broadcasts — much of the population gets its news from French broadcasters — and imposed a strict dusk-to-dawn curfew.
President Obama issued a statement congratulating Mr. Ouattara. He urged “all parties, including incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo, to acknowledge and respect this result, and to allow Côte d’Ivoire to move forward toward a peaceful, democratic future, leaving long years of conflict and missed opportunities in the past.”
The streets of this economic capital were largely deserted except for troops, police officers and occasional bands of chanting youth, some of them Gbagbo supporters. Shops were shut tight, anticipating the street violence — often mobilized by Mr. Gbagbo’s camp, political scientists say — that sometimes accompanies political tension here. Calls from Washington and other foreign capitals to respect last Sunday’s vote, which was characterized as largely fair by the European Union and the United Nations, have multiplied. But Mr. Gbagbo showed no signs of backing down. State television announced that he would be sworn in Saturday as president. For years, he ignored calls from abroad to hold elections, staying in office five years after his legal term expired by postponing the vote. On Friday, Mr. Gbagbo, a former professor and historian, appeared set to continue in that vein, with legal justifications for his continued tenure fully mobilized.
Paul Yao N’Dre, the head of the Constitutional Council and a close ally of the president, announced Friday afternoon on national television that he was throwing out vote totals from the nine departments in the country’s northern tier — the stronghold of Mr. Ouattara — because of what Mr. N’Dre called “flagrant irregularities.” At the end of it, Mr. N’Dre said, “Laurent Gbagbo is declared president of the republic.” Earlier, Mr. Ouattara’s camp had drawn its own line in the sand. “Maybe Laurent Gbagbo thinks he can stage a new putsch in 2010,” a spokesman for Mr. Ouattara, Amadou Gon Coulibaly, told a roomful of reporters here at the fading luxury hotel that is their headquarters. “But this doesn’t change anything. The people of Côte d’Ivoire have spoken. Laurent Gbagbo is beaten.”
Later, Mr. Ouattara declared himself the “elected president.” Years of political confrontation here, with its coups and countercoups, civil war, street violence and postponed elections, seemed poised to repeat itself. The country has been divided between north and south since a 2002 civil war, and it had been hoped that the election would unify it.
A front-page headline in a newspaper close to Mr. Gbagbo translated as “France’s Coup d’État Has Once Again Failed,” singling out the former colonial power that has been the target of the president’s crowd-stirring orations in the past. Late Friday, the few pedestrians out as curfew approached spoke anxiously, and sometimes angrily, about the standoff that was repeating itself in a country that was once a magnet for the region’s immigrants but that now has steadily rising rates of poverty and unemployment.
The announcement that Mr. Gbagbo was the winner “is going to bring on lots of bad things in this country,” said Charles Adou, 36 and unemployed. “Mr. Gbagbo doesn’t want us to go forward. Referring to Mr. N’Dre, who declared Mr. Gbagbo’s victory, Michel Koffi, 28 and unemployed, said, “You put your friend at the head of an institution, you know what the result is going to be.” Analysts foresaw no quick resolution to the standoff. One unknown factor is which way the army, currently under Mr. Gbagbo’s control, will turn. “He’s playing his all,” said Richard Banegas, a political scientist at the Sorbonne in Paris. “He is extremely pugnacious, and he controls a lot of the street forces. He’s gone into a Plan B, a strategy of tension, a kind of Mugabe plan.”
Source: New York Times
The announcement, made by the Constitutional Council, came only a day after the country’s top election official said Mr. Gbagbo’s challenger had won the election by a solid margin, 54.1 to 45.9 percent — a result the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, also endorsed on Friday. The United Nations has a role in certifying the elections, and both Mr. Ban and his longtime special representative here made it clear there was only one winner of last Sunday’s vote: the opposition candidate, Alassane Ouattara.
The conflicting declarations left the country in a strange limbo, with two men declared president, and on Friday Mr. Gbagbo’s government found itself under increasing isolation, some of it self-imposed. It has ordered the country’s borders sealed, blocked all foreign television and radio broadcasts — much of the population gets its news from French broadcasters — and imposed a strict dusk-to-dawn curfew.
President Obama issued a statement congratulating Mr. Ouattara. He urged “all parties, including incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo, to acknowledge and respect this result, and to allow Côte d’Ivoire to move forward toward a peaceful, democratic future, leaving long years of conflict and missed opportunities in the past.”
The streets of this economic capital were largely deserted except for troops, police officers and occasional bands of chanting youth, some of them Gbagbo supporters. Shops were shut tight, anticipating the street violence — often mobilized by Mr. Gbagbo’s camp, political scientists say — that sometimes accompanies political tension here. Calls from Washington and other foreign capitals to respect last Sunday’s vote, which was characterized as largely fair by the European Union and the United Nations, have multiplied. But Mr. Gbagbo showed no signs of backing down. State television announced that he would be sworn in Saturday as president. For years, he ignored calls from abroad to hold elections, staying in office five years after his legal term expired by postponing the vote. On Friday, Mr. Gbagbo, a former professor and historian, appeared set to continue in that vein, with legal justifications for his continued tenure fully mobilized.
Paul Yao N’Dre, the head of the Constitutional Council and a close ally of the president, announced Friday afternoon on national television that he was throwing out vote totals from the nine departments in the country’s northern tier — the stronghold of Mr. Ouattara — because of what Mr. N’Dre called “flagrant irregularities.” At the end of it, Mr. N’Dre said, “Laurent Gbagbo is declared president of the republic.” Earlier, Mr. Ouattara’s camp had drawn its own line in the sand. “Maybe Laurent Gbagbo thinks he can stage a new putsch in 2010,” a spokesman for Mr. Ouattara, Amadou Gon Coulibaly, told a roomful of reporters here at the fading luxury hotel that is their headquarters. “But this doesn’t change anything. The people of Côte d’Ivoire have spoken. Laurent Gbagbo is beaten.”
Later, Mr. Ouattara declared himself the “elected president.” Years of political confrontation here, with its coups and countercoups, civil war, street violence and postponed elections, seemed poised to repeat itself. The country has been divided between north and south since a 2002 civil war, and it had been hoped that the election would unify it.
A front-page headline in a newspaper close to Mr. Gbagbo translated as “France’s Coup d’État Has Once Again Failed,” singling out the former colonial power that has been the target of the president’s crowd-stirring orations in the past. Late Friday, the few pedestrians out as curfew approached spoke anxiously, and sometimes angrily, about the standoff that was repeating itself in a country that was once a magnet for the region’s immigrants but that now has steadily rising rates of poverty and unemployment.
The announcement that Mr. Gbagbo was the winner “is going to bring on lots of bad things in this country,” said Charles Adou, 36 and unemployed. “Mr. Gbagbo doesn’t want us to go forward. Referring to Mr. N’Dre, who declared Mr. Gbagbo’s victory, Michel Koffi, 28 and unemployed, said, “You put your friend at the head of an institution, you know what the result is going to be.” Analysts foresaw no quick resolution to the standoff. One unknown factor is which way the army, currently under Mr. Gbagbo’s control, will turn. “He’s playing his all,” said Richard Banegas, a political scientist at the Sorbonne in Paris. “He is extremely pugnacious, and he controls a lot of the street forces. He’s gone into a Plan B, a strategy of tension, a kind of Mugabe plan.”
Source: New York Times
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Darfur: Ban and UN-African Union mission condemn attack on peacekeepers
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the joint United Nations-African Union mission in Sudan’s strife-torn Darfur region have deplored an attack carried out yesterday outside of the South Darfur capital of Nyala that wounded seven Pakistani peacekeepers.
The peacekeepers, part of a five-vehicle police convoy, came under heavy gunfire in the afternoon near Sakali, an area located two kilometres from the El-Sherif camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and 17 kilometres south of Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state. They were returning to their base in Nyala, following a confidence-building patrol in the vicinity of the IDP camp, when several unknown assailants armed with AK-47 assault rifles suddenly opened fire on the convoy, according to a news release issued by the mission, known as UNAMID. “The Secretary-General calls on the Government of Sudan to launch an immediate investigation into this incident and to ensure that the perpetrators are swiftly identified and brought to justice,” his spokesperson said in a statement. Also condemning the attack, the UN-AU mission called on all parties to ensure the safety of its personnel in the region.
The Joint UN-AU Special Representative and head of UNAMID, Ibrahim Gambari, who visited the wounded officers at the Nyala Hospital today, voiced his outrage at the “wanton” act of violence. He praised the courage of the peacekeepers and pledged that UNAMID would be undeterred. “Any attack on peacekeepers is tantamount to a war crime. Those responsible must be brought to justice,” he stated. “Our mission will continue to carry out its mandate – to bring peace and security to the people of Darfur.”
In December 2009, five Rwandan troops were killed and three injured in two separate incidents in North Darfur. UNAMID deployed in early 2008 to assist in securing lasting peace and stability in the region, where the conflict has killed an estimated 300,000 people and displaced 2.7 million others.
Since the deployment of the mission, 22 peacekeepers (19 military personnel and three police officers) have lost their lives as a result of hostile actions.
Source: United Nations
The peacekeepers, part of a five-vehicle police convoy, came under heavy gunfire in the afternoon near Sakali, an area located two kilometres from the El-Sherif camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and 17 kilometres south of Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state. They were returning to their base in Nyala, following a confidence-building patrol in the vicinity of the IDP camp, when several unknown assailants armed with AK-47 assault rifles suddenly opened fire on the convoy, according to a news release issued by the mission, known as UNAMID. “The Secretary-General calls on the Government of Sudan to launch an immediate investigation into this incident and to ensure that the perpetrators are swiftly identified and brought to justice,” his spokesperson said in a statement. Also condemning the attack, the UN-AU mission called on all parties to ensure the safety of its personnel in the region.
The Joint UN-AU Special Representative and head of UNAMID, Ibrahim Gambari, who visited the wounded officers at the Nyala Hospital today, voiced his outrage at the “wanton” act of violence. He praised the courage of the peacekeepers and pledged that UNAMID would be undeterred. “Any attack on peacekeepers is tantamount to a war crime. Those responsible must be brought to justice,” he stated. “Our mission will continue to carry out its mandate – to bring peace and security to the people of Darfur.”
In December 2009, five Rwandan troops were killed and three injured in two separate incidents in North Darfur. UNAMID deployed in early 2008 to assist in securing lasting peace and stability in the region, where the conflict has killed an estimated 300,000 people and displaced 2.7 million others.
Since the deployment of the mission, 22 peacekeepers (19 military personnel and three police officers) have lost their lives as a result of hostile actions.
Source: United Nations
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