UN News Centre – Africa
Ban strongly condemns two suicide bombings in north-west Niger
23 May 2013 Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has strongly condemned the two suicide bombings which took place today in north-west Niger, and conveyed his sincere condolences to the families of the victims.
According to media reports, the jihadist Mujao group claimed responsibility for the attacks at a barracks in Agadez that killed at least 19, including 18 soldiers, as well as an attack on the French-run Somair uranium mine in Arlit that killed one person and injured 14.
“The Secretary-General reiterates the support of the United Nations to the efforts of the Government of Niger and other countries in the Sahel region to combat the scourge of terrorism and transnational crime, in close collaboration with the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States and the Economic Community of Central African States,” said a statement issued by Mr. Ban’s spokesperson.
“He stresses the need for the international community to continue to strengthen its cooperation to address these serious threats to the stability of the sub-region and beyond,” it added.
Article source: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=44983&Cr=+niger+&Cr1=
UN official highlights positive trends in Africa to protect indigenous people’s rights
23 May 2013 A United Nations official today stressed that Africa has taken positive steps to protect the rights of indigenous people, adding that the continent must continue making progress and avoid repeating mistakes made by other regions.
“Africa has been consolidating and strengthening the legal framework protecting indigenous people,” Senior Specialist on Indigenous Tribal Peoples’ Issues for the International Labour Organization (ILO), Albert Kwokwo Barume, said at a Headquarters press conference being held in connection with the 12th session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. .
“We have a large number of African countries that supported the UN Declaration [on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples],” he continued, noting countries implementing domestic laws, like Congo has done. In addition, the Central African Republic has become the first African member country of the ILO to ratify the agency’s Convention 169, which is a legally binding treaty which deals specifically with the rights of indigenous and tribal peoples, Mr. Barume said.
Adopted by the General Assembly in September 2007 after more than two decades of debate, the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples sets out the individual and collective rights of those peoples, as well as their rights to culture, identity, language, employment, health, education and other issues.
Mr. Barume also noted that the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights has been “playing a leading role on indigenous people’s issues in Africa.” He underlined that the Commission had particularly helped to conceptualize what being ‘indigenous’ means in Africa, something that has been controversial in some countries.
“Today, that concept has a clear, well-defined, and non-controversial understanding,” he said.
Around 2,300 indigenous participants have gathered at UN Headquarters in New York to discuss culture, education and health during the 12th session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. This year, the two-week forum will particularly focus on youth, indigenous groups in Africa and the importance of strengthening ties with international financial institutions.
Mr. Barume said the current session on Africa is an opportunity for African countries to learn from good practices in other regions, as well as an opportunity for them to share their successful experiences with the world.
“We have seen different attempts of trying to educate indigenous children, but indigenous people have the right to make the choices of the education they want to give their children because they have the right to self-determination,” he said. “In that sense, Africa must avoid making the same mistakes that other countries have made in the past.”
Also participating in the forum were the Legal Adviser to the President of the Republic of the Congo, Laurent Tengo and Simon William M’Viboudoulou, Member of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
Responding to a number of questions, including one on visits of UN Special Rapporteur for Indigenous Peoples’ Rights James Anaya to Africa, in particular to Namibia, Mr. M’Viboudoulou said that, when Mr. Anaya had visited the Republic of Congo, the country had been in the process of establishing its laws on indigenous peoples. The State’s openness to dialogue had helped to improve the situation of its indigenous population, including implementing the Special Rapporteur’s recommendations.
“We all know the problems facing the indigenous people of Namibia”, he said of that particular visit. However, it was important to consider that accepting Mr. Anaya’s visit – and engaging in dialogue on the issue – showed political will on the part of the Namibian Government. He was confident that things would soon change for the San, one of that country’s indigenous groups.
Asked what was being done to educate mainstream populations about the rights of indigenous peoples, Mr. Tengo responded that there was a longstanding belief in many countries that indigenous people were part of the nation, and that there was no reason to take particular measures to protect them. The first challenge was to break away from that thinking.
The second challenge, he continued, was the state of underdevelopment that generated poverty and intolerance. Indigenous peoples lived mostly in poverty, and changing that would require the political courage to take proactive measures. In addition, indigenous peoples themselves needed to “take their destiny in their hands” and defend their own rights, he said.
On the same question, Mr. Barume stressed the need to address historical injustices against African indigenous peoples, in particular with regard to the annexation of land. Acknowledging those injustices was the first step, he underscored, as “you cannot correct a mistake that you do not first recognize”. It was also critical to legally address those wrongdoings, and then to implement laws and educate the mainstream community.
Article source: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=44981&Cr=indigenous&Cr1=
DR Congo: In Goma, Secretary-General hails regional accord as ‘best chance for peace in years’
23 May 2013 Arriving today in restive eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged all the leaders of Africa’s Great Lakes region to throw their support behind a recently-signed peace accord which aims to ensure security, as well as development, for the long-troubled country.
“We have the best chance in many years to bring peace and calm to the region,” the UN chief said in Goma, eastern DRC’s main city, in proximity since Tuesday of renewed fighting between Government troops (FARDC) and rebels from the 23 November Movement (M23).
“We are here to support the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Region,” the Secretary-General said in remarks to the press following a visit to the Heal Africa hospital, which treats victims of sexual violence. He was referring to landmark UN-brokered 11-nation accord that has been dubbed “the framework for hope” by Mary Robinson, Mr. Ban’s Special Envoy for the Great Lakes.
He said that the framework aimed to address the root causes of the violence. In addition, the newly-deployed intervention brigade within the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the country (MONUSCO) is designed to bring added stability and protect civilians. “But that is only one element of a much larger political process. A peace deal must deliver a peace dividend – health, education, jobs, opportunity.”
Calling on the leaders of the region to back up the peace accord with action and investment in “the people who have suffered so much,” particularly women and girls, the UN chief also noted that today was the first annual International Day to End Obstetric Fistula. Many of the women and girls at Heal Africa suffered from fistula after enduring brutal rapes, but also due to early pregnancy and a lack of adequate healthcare.
With those factors contributing to some 40,000 cases of fistula alone, the Secretary-General said, the situation was further evidence of the need for holistic development. Education and healthcare were part of the broader infrastructure of development that can bring progress and hope to this “battered region,” he said, hailing the commitment of Mr. Kim and the World Bank, which earlier in the trip had announced a pledge of $1 billion to promote development in the region.
Mr. Ban, who arrived in the DRC yesterday for talks with senior Government officials in the capital, Kinshasa, was accompanied by Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank and Ms. Robinson. After a stop in Rwanda this afternoon, the officials will move on to Uganda and will wind up their trip in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for the African Union summit.
Just ahead of the Secretary-General’s arrival, Moustapha Soumaré, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the DRC, called for all parties to respect international humanitarian law after three people were killed and 14 wounded yesterday by mortar shells fired into in a city northwest of Goma.
According to a news release from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), three shells exploded in the crowded neighbourhood of Ndosho, killing three people and wounding another 10.
The explosions, which took place next to churches, provoked panic among the population, causing many to flee towards downtown Goma in search of safer haven. During the night, three shells also exploded next to the Mugunga III internally displaced persons (IDP) camp, about 10 kilometres west of Goma and hosting 13,000 IDPs, wounding four people and destroying several houses.
“I am very concerned with the developments yesterday in Goma” said Mr. Soumaré, emphasizing that civilians were injured during military operations because military positions and military activities are taking place “too close to where civilian populations are located”, in violation of international humanitarian law. “I call on all parties to take all measures necessary to avoid civilian casualties.”
Meanwhile, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) also issued a release expressing deep concern about the incident and calling on all sides to ensure the protection of civilians, including displaced persons.
As for the Secretary-General, later in the day the UN chief flew to Kigali, where he met with senior Rwandan officials, including President Paul Kagame. He also visited the Centre for Excellence for the Fight against Violence against Women and Children.
He and Mr. Kim also visited the Gisozi genocide memorial site, where they laid wreaths in solemn commemoration of the tragic 1994 event. Noting that it was his third visit to the site, Mr. Ban said that the memorial served as both a warning and a symbol of hope. While the international community had failed Rwanda, the country had, in less than two decades, reconciled and rebuilt.
“We want to see peace and development throughout the Great Lakes region,” the Secretary-General said, urging the international community to build a world “where all live in security, dignity, proud of who they are, wherever they are.”
Article source: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=44979&Cr=democratic&Cr1=congo
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