Africa

ICTR staff outside Headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania

UN genocide tribunal refers case to Rwandan court system for first time

28 June 2011
The United Nations war crimes tribunal set up to try masterminds of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda today for the first time referred a case to be tried by the country’s national judicial system.

Darfur: UN-backed conference on water resource management opens

27 June 2011
A United Nations-sponsored conference on the management of water resources in Sudan’s troubled and arid region of Darfur opened today with delegates expected to tackle the problem of water shortages in relation to conflicts exacerbated by competition over natural resources.
The disputed town of Abyei was the scene of renewed violence in May 2011 after Sudanese Government forces took over the area.
UN Photo/Stuart Price

Security Council sets up UN security force for disputed Sudanese town of Abyei

27 June 2011
The Security Council today established, for an initial six months, a United Nations peacekeeping force for the area around the Sudanese town of Abyei, which is contested by both north and south and has been the scene of renewed fighting in recent weeks.
Ivorians collect food at distribution centre in the west of the country

Returning Ivorians lack food, shelter and medical care, UN aid agencies say

27 June 2011
Many Ivorians returning to their home towns and villages in the wake of their country’s post-electoral crisis are in dire need of food, shelter and medical assistance, the United Nations humanitarian arm reported today.
ECA Executive Secretary Abdoulie Janneh

United Nations envoy in Africa calls for mobilization of youth for development

27 June 2011
A top-ranking United Nations official in Africa has called for a mobilization of the continent’s youth for sustainable development, suggesting that the recent turmoil in North Africa may be linked to high rates of unemployment among youth, their desire for freedom, and their demands for change.
Ethiopians rest under a tree in Mozambique after walking from the coast on their way south earlier this year

Mozambique should stop deporting asylum-seekers, UN agency says

24 June 2011
The United Nations refugee agency today called on Mozambique to stop deporting Somali and Ethiopian asylum-seekers.
Security Council President Amb. Noël Nelson Messone of Gabon reads statement on Somalia

Somalia: Security Council calls for inclusive and comprehensive peace strategy

24 June 2011
The Security Council today reiterated the need for a comprehensive and inclusive strategy to encourage the restoration of peace and stability in Somalia, stressing that a peace agreement signed in neighbouring Djibouti in 2008 remains the basis for resolving conflict in the Horn of Africa country.
Amb. Ghazi Jomaa (right) of Tunisia presents the instrument of accession to the ICC to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

Tunisia becomes first North African nation to join International Criminal Court

24 June 2011
Tunisia today became the first North African nation to join the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the 116th party to the treaty establishing the world’s first permanent court tasked with trying people accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
Special envoy Margot Wallström, visiting the DRC in October 2010, listens to the public about rapes

UN envoys voice outrage after mass rape in eastern DR Congo

24 June 2011
The envoy spearheading United Nations efforts to combat sexual violence during conflicts has strongly condemned the mass rape of more than 150 civilians in the far east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) earlier this month.
Deputy Rights Commissioner Kyung-wha Kang (left) at Zamzam IDP camp in El Fasher, Darfur

UN official ‘shocked’ by conditions in Darfur camp for displaced

24 June 2011
A high-ranking United Nations human rights official today said she was shocked at the conditions of a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Darfur and called for renewed international concern with the situation in the war-torn Sudanese region.