Africa

Women marching against sexual violence in the DRC (file photo)

Secretary-General meets with female victims of DR Congo conflict

28 February 2009
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited today with women and girls who have been victims of sexual violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a country that the United Nations says has witnessed some of the highest levels of such abuses in the world.
Civilians leave Mogadishu last year. But despite continuing fighting, thousands have gone back in recent weeks

Over 40,000 displaced Somalis return to capital despite clashes, says UN agency

27 February 2009
Although the Somali capital is witnessing some of the worst clashes in months, more than 40,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) have returned to Mogadishu in the last six weeks, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR) reported today.
Trying to control the spread of malaria by building shelters with insecticide-treated plastic sheeting

Malaria control measures making advances in fight against deadly disease – UN report

27 February 2009
Although progress has been made towards reducing malaria deaths, currently around 1 million a year, to near zero by the end of 2015, the international community needs to intensify its efforts to reach the goal, stressed a new United Nations report published today.

Former Rwandan chaplain sentenced to 25 years by UN genocide court

27 February 2009
A former chaplain in Rwanda’s armed forces was sentenced today to 25 years for the abduction, murder and sexual assault of Tutsi civilians by the United Nations tribunal set up to deal with the mass killings that engulfed the tiny African country in 1994.
Children being immunized against Polio

Massive UN polio immunization campaign underway in West Africa

27 February 2009
Some 53 million children under the age of five, including every girl and boy in Nigeria, have been targeted by a mass polio immunization campaign across West Africa, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) announced today.
Women carry jerry cans of water in North Kivu

Notable rise in violence against civilians, aid workers in DR Congo, UN reports

27 February 2009
There has been a notable rise in violations against civilians and attacks on humanitarian workers in North Kivu province in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), leading to new displacement, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported today.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addresses the diplomatic corps, academic community and the media in Tanzania

Tanzania an African model for stability, democratization, education – Ban

27 February 2009
On the last full day of his official visit to Tanzania today, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the country a model for overcoming some of Africa's thorniest challenges in a press conference in the country's capital, Dar es Salaam.
Lieutenant-General Abu Tayeb Muhammad Zahirul Alam meets with people in Maimu Town, near Totota in Liberia’s central province of Bong

‘Ideal Village’ latest project by UN peacekeepers to boost Liberia’s food security

26 February 2009
A new 150-acre agricultural village, complete with poultry, a fish pond and school and community-based farms, is the latest initiative by Bangladeshi peacekeepers serving with the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) to boost food security, a crucial component to lasting peace in the West African nation.

UN assessment team calls for strengthening aid efforts in Zimbabwe

26 February 2009
A United Nations inter-agency mission to Zimbabwe today stressed that the country’s humanitarian crisis remains grave, and urged both the Government and the international community to support the strengthening of aid efforts.
The Special Court for Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone: UN-backed court convicts three rebel leaders for war crimes

26 February 2009
Three men who led a rebel movement during the most brutal phase of Sierra Leone’s decade-long civil war have been found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity, a United Nations spokesperson said today.