Europe

Miloon Kothari

UN housing rights expert urges Zimbabwe to halt mass evictions

3 June 2005
With a wave of forced mass evictions reportedly taking place in Zimbabwe, the United Nations expert on housing rights today urged Government authorities to halt the campaign, saying that it could constitute a gross violation of human rights.
Louise Fréchette

Fréchette to visit Kosovo as part of tour to eliminate sexual abuse in peacekeeping

3 June 2005
United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette will be travelling to Kosovo, resuming her visits to peacekeeping missions to reinforce Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s zero-tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse for United Nations personnel.

Annan appoints special envoy for review of Kosovo

3 June 2005
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has appointed Ambassador Kai Eide, Permanent Representative of Norway to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), as his Special Envoy to carry out a comprehensive review of Kosovo.
USG Prendergast

On regional tour, UN political affairs chief meets with Cypriot leaders

2 June 2005
The United Nations political affairs chief today said that after a fresh round of discussions with officials in Cyprus, he now has a “better understanding” of the positions, concerns and wishes of the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot sides.

UN political affairs chief visits Cyprus, Greece and Turkey

31 May 2005
The United Nations chief of political affairs is visiting Cyprus, Greece and Turkey to assess the mood on the island and in the region after the parallel referenda in Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot communities late last April on Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s proposal to re-unite before joining the European Union (EU).

Media figures on asylum in Italy ‘misleading,’ UN refugee agency says

27 May 2005
Over half of asylum applicants in Italy whose cases were examined on their merits in 2004 were judged to be in need of international protection, the United Nations refugee agency said today.

Set of 64 mortal remains repatriated to Kosovo under UN auspices

27 May 2005
A group of 64 bodies exhumed from Batajnica, Serbia, and believed to be of missing Kosovo Albanians, were repatriated under United Nations auspices today.
Soren Jesses-Petersen (file)

Kosovo making steady progress despite continued challenges, Security Council told

27 May 2005
Progress in Kosovo remains on track, in most priority areas, despite continued uncertainty, a change of Government and the fact that Kosovo Serbs continue to shun participation in the provisional institutions, Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s representative told the United Nations Security Council today.

Progress in Kosovo must be across the board, continuous – Annan

26 May 2005
Noting concrete progress in Kosovo toward internationally-agreed standards in such areas as government reform, the rule of law and minority rights, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in a report out today, stressed that continuing progress must be made in all priority areas for any future political settlement to proceed.
Kofi Annan

UN welcomes European agreement on increased development aid

25 May 2005
Top United Nations officials today praised the European Union's agreement to substantially boost its official development assistance (ODA) over the next decade, with half of the increase going to Africa.