Americas

Annan expresses sympathy for Hurricane Katrina victims

31 August 2005
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today expressed his sympathy for victims of Hurricane Katrina in the United States and extended condolences to those affected by the storm.
Colombian Singer Juanes

Colombian singer helps UN refugee agency raise awareness in Spain

30 August 2005
The United Nations refugee agency has launched an awareness campaign in Spain on behalf of refugees and internally displaced people with a concert by Colombian singer Juanes in the north-western town of La Coruña.

Colombia: UN rights office condemns leftist rebel massacre of farm workers

29 August 2005
The United Nations human rights office in Colombia has condemned the massacre of 14 farm workers in the north-west of the country and warned leftist rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – Popular Army (FARC-EP) that they were incurring war and could be subject to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Venezuela offers Haiti aid, including energy, senior UN peacekeeping official says

29 August 2005
Venezuela, citing historical ties, has offered to assist Haiti in the areas of energy, education and economic development, the head of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Caribbean country, Juan Gabriel Valdés, said.
UN peacekeepers at checkpoint in Cite Soleil

Haiti: UN peacekeeper shot in leg as violence continues in capital city

25 August 2005
A United Nations peacekeeper in Haiti was shot in the leg and seriously wounded when his patrol came under fire from armed bands in Port-au-Prince, the capital, yesterday as violence in the city continued to raise serious concerns.

Chief of UN mission in Haiti says mission must not leave prematurely

23 August 2005
The chief of the United Nations mission in Haiti says the peacekeepers should not leave the Caribbean country prematurely, thereby repeating the same mistake that previous UN missions have made.

Peacekeeping mission in Haiti says armed groups have gone underground

22 August 2005
Although the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Haiti no longer needs to patrol in armoured vehicles, it says the armed groups it has been battling in the shantytowns of the capital have gone underground and the police must work most closely with intelligence services, a senior military official said.

UN agency calls for steps to improve health care in Latin America and Caribbean

22 August 2005
A United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) report on progress made toward meeting Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Latin America and the Caribbean has recommended a number of steps to improve health care in region, while noting that area’s maternal mortality ratio statistics masked serious problems, including a lack of reliable sources for detecting and recording deaths.

Colombia: UN human rights office calls for end to arbitrary detentions

18 August 2005
Despite some of the strongest constitutional safeguards in Latin America, arbitrary detentions proliferate in Colombia, according to the United Nations human rights office in the South American country, embroiled in four decades of conflict between leftist guerrillas, Government forces and paramilitary militias.

Colombia: UN rights office condemns murder of four civilians, including priests

17 August 2005
The United Nations human rights office in Colombia has condemned the murder of four civilians, including two priests, in a north-eastern region of the conflict-wracked country and called on the competent authorities to find and punish the perpetrators.