General News

Electoral kits being unloaded in Timbuktu, ahead of the 28 July 2013 presidential elections in Mali. [Photo: MINUSMA/Blagoje Grujic][/caption]Over 50 per cent of Malians went to the polls on the first round of their country’s presidential elections, that’s according to Aurelien Agbenonci, the special representative of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in Mali.

He says this means that the Malians want to make the right choice and change their situation. He commends the people of Mali for this achievement.

Fighting between Government forces and rebels in the northern part of Mali, which started early last year, has caused insecurity, instability and a growing refugee crisis.

The Human Rights Council says human rights violations were committed by rebels, terrorist groups and other organized transnational crime networkS, particularly in the north of the country.

These abuses, which included violence against women and children, summary and extrajudicial executions, and pillaging, were condemned by the Council.

For the past decade, the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) has been supporting the country’s efforts to consolidate peace gains following civil war in the 1990s which killed more than 200,000 people.

Major-General Leonard Muriuki Ngondi of Kenya, Force Commander at the mission, says UNMIL forces are busy with patrols and assisting the government in detecting potential threats to a secure environment.

UN Radio’s Ben Malor caught up with Major-General Ngondi during the recent meeting of Force Commanders from UN peacekeeping missions which takes place annually in New York.

Save the Grace volunteers in Lebanon repackage excess food from restaurants for distribution to Syrian refugee families. [Adapted from UNIFEED][/caption]Ramadan is the holiest time of the year in Islam when Muslims all around the world abstain from food, drink and other physical needs for a month, from dawn until the sun sets.

[Photo taken from WMO Facebook page][/caption]Although shipping has traditionally been a male-dominated industry, women increasingly are becoming more visible in the sector.

In fact, ‘Women at the Helm’ is the title of a film launched recently by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) which shows how the agency is making efforts to overturn tradition.

An IMO programme that promotes the integration of women in the maritime sector turns 25 this year.

Children keep warm in the bitter cold at Za’atari refugee camp. [Photo: UNICEF/Pattinson][/caption]The Za’atri camp for Syrian refugees in the middle of the desert opened on July 29, 2012, according to UNICEF’s Communications Officer in the country.

Mark Vergara says a year later, the camp has become the fourth largest city in Jordan and the second largest refugee camp in the world, housing 127- thousand people with almost half of them children.

The conflict in Sudan's western region of Darfur is experiencing a resurgence in killings and displacements, despite the best efforts of the international community to find a lasting resolution. Just two weeks ago a large group of unidentified armed men, using highly sophisticated weapons, ambushed a convoy of peacekeepers and killed 7 Tanzanians who are with the UN-African Union Mission in Darfur, UNAMID.

Nigeria’s rates of childhood stunting and wasting are among the highest in the world, particularly in the north where the country reaches into the Sahel region, according to the UN Children’s Agency (UNICEF). In many cases, these conditions can be life-threatening if not treated properly.

Four months ago, the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the region was signed, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told a meeting of the Security Council on Thursday.

His remarks were made as the Security Council opened debate on the Great Lakes region, that is the countries surrounding Africa’s great lakes – Burundi, Tanzania, the DR Congo, Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya

The UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) says an Israeli draft bill calling for the demolition of dozens of Bedouin villages in the Negev Desert is threatening the eviction and forcible displacement of over 35,000 Arab Bedouins.