Africa

Contributors of ready troops for UN operations discuss potential Sudan mission

23 June 2004
A potential United Nations mission in Sudan as well as support for other African peacekeeping efforts are among the issues being discussed during a two-day meeting of countries contributing troops to a stand-by arrangement for UN operations.
Sudanese refugees

Senior UN refugee official visits Sudan in anticipation of 600,000 returns

22 June 2004
The Assistant United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is in Sudan holding talks on the potential return of some 600,000 refugees to the country’s south if a peace accord is reached between the Government and rebels ending their 21-year civil war.

Polio: UN health experts warn that West, Central Africa may soon face epidemic

22 June 2004
West and Central Africa could be facing its worst polio epidemic in years, with thousands of children at risk of paralysis, following confirmation that the recent outbreak has spread to the Darfur region of Sudan, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said today.

Western Sahara: UN mission welcomes planned release of 100 Moroccan POWs

22 June 2004
The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara has welcomed the announcement yesterday by the Frente POLISARIO that it intends to free 100 Moroccan prisoners of war.
Burundian refugees

Number of Congolese fleeing to Burundi jumps to 31,000, UN reports

22 June 2004
Fear of renewed fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has brought the number of refugees in Burundi to 31,000 today from an estimated 25,000 just four days ago, but the deployment of DRC troops along the border area may have discouraged major cross-border movement, the United Nations refugee agency said today.
James Morris

HIV and hunger spell 'death spiral' for southern Africa - UN relief official

22 June 2004
A "death spiral" of HIV and food insecurity is depleting public services and debilitating southern Africa, a United Nations relief official said today.
Amb. Lauro Baja, Council President

UN Security Council warns against belligerence in eastern DR of Congo

22 June 2004
Condemning "in the strongest terms" any outside involvement in the volatile situation in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the United Nations Security Council today urged Secretary-General Kofi Annan to determine whether the UN mission there needs "a possible rapid reaction capability."

Annan stresses urgency of resolving crisis in Darfur, Sudan

21 June 2004
Any peace accord in southern Sudan will be fragile unless the humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region in the country's west is also resolved, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said.
William Lacy Swing

DR Congo has 20,000 troops in volatile east, UN mission says

21 June 2004
With mutineer-led insurgent fighters still present in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the transitional government has built up its own force of 20,000 troops in the area, the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for the Great Lakes country said today.
Fred Eckhard

Rainy season strikes crisis-plagued Darfur, Sudan

21 June 2004
One of the world's worst humanitarian situations - the strife-torn Darfur region of western Sudan - could deteriorate further now that the area's rainy season has begun, hampering the delivery of life-sustaining aid and fostering a breeding ground for infectious diseases, a United Nations spokesman said today.