UN peacekeeping chief urges support for Mali peace process

Parties to the conflict in Mali must be encouraged to accelerate implementation of a 2015 peace agreement, the new UN peacekeeping chief Jean Pierre Lacroix told the Security Council on Thursday. The deal signed by the Government and armed groups sought to end three years of instability, including a failed military coup and the seizure of the north by radical Islamists. Dianne Penn reports.

Darfur mission marks International Day for Mine Awareness

Unexploded ordnance and other remnants of war have killed more than 220 civilians in the Darfur region of Sudan since 2005. They also threaten the work of peacekeepers delivering humanitarian aid to scores of people displaced by conflict. The Ordnance Disposal Office at the African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) has been locating and destroying these hazards, as well as educating people about the danger they pose. From El-Fasher, Darfur, Adam Ahmed of UNAMID Radio prepared this report read by Jumbe Omari Jumbe.

Somalia piracy still a concern, UN crime-fighting body warns

Recent attacks on commercial vessels off Somalia indicate that the issue of piracy has never gone away despite a five-year lull in activity. The warning comes from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) after three ships were hijacked or ambushed over the past month. Alan Cole heads UNODC’s Maritime Crime Programme which is based in Nairobi, Kenya. Dianne Penn asked him what was behind the recent hijackings on the high seas.

Presenter: Lucy Dean

Production Assistant: Ana Carmo

Duration: 10’00″