Ethiopia, at UN, calls for long view on sustainable development in Horn of
Africa
26 September 2011 -
Ethiopia called today from the General Assembly not only for immediate aid
to help the 13.3 million victims of drought and famine in Somalia and
elsewhere in the Horn of Africa but also for the "even more crucial" means
to achieve sustainable development in the region.
"Our .youth need to have their hope for the future not frustrated; and the
condition of our women and children require much greater attention. Poverty,
on top of denying people their human rights, is also not a solid foundation
on which peace and security can be built," Deputy Prime Minister Hailemariam
Desalegne
<
http://gadebate.un.org/sites/default/files/gastatements/66/ET_en.pdf> said.
"We don't believe enough is being done which is commensurate with the
gravity of the danger to humanity in general. Moreover, the whole issue
embodies injustice because Africa and the developing world happen to be the
worst affected while contributing the least to climate change."
The call made on Saturday at a UN mini-summit on immediate aid for Somalia -
at which at least $218 million in new aid for the Horn of Africa was pledged
- needs to be reiterated and amplified and more should be done for Somalis,
he said.
But "what is even more crucial in the Horn of Africa is sustainable
development," Mr. Desalegne declared.
The Deputy Prime Minister noted that the regional East African
Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), in close collaboration
with the East African Community (EAC), the African Union (AU) and the UN,
has been the linchpin in efforts to assist Somalis achieve peace, stability
and national reconciliation.
With the al-Shabaab Islamic militants driven out of Mogadishu, Somali the
capital, and the tide turning against them, there is new hope in Somalia
which should be sustained, he said, praising Uganda and Burundi for the
sacrifices they have made, and continue to make, as the two countries
spearheading the efforts of the AU peacekeeping force known as AMISOM.
"It must be underlined, that this is a fight which has humanitarian and
developmental implications, not only security or political," he added.
"That is why the successful cooperation of the IGAD countries for stability
and security in the Horn of Africa, and in the fight against terrorism and
extremism, has been so vital and needs the wholehearted support of the
international community, the General Assembly, and most particularly, the
Security Council."
Oman's Foreign Minister Yousef Bin Al-Alawi Bin Abdulla also focused on
Somalia, calling on the UN to intensify its cooperation with regional
organizations such as the Arab League, the AU, the Organization of Islamic
Cooperation, and IGAD, to set a plan to bring peace.
"We also stress the importance of increasing humanitarian aid to millions of
refugees and displaced persons among the Somali people," he
<
http://gadebate.un.org/sites/default/files/gastatements/66/OM_en.pdf> said.
"We are confident that the neighbouring countries of Somalia share our
belief in the need for political solutions to this chronic crisis in this
country. We also confirm to the Secretary-General of the UN that we are
fully prepared to support the efforts of the UN in this regard."
He also reaffirmed his country's continuous cooperation with the UN and the
international community in eliminating terrorism.
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UN agencies seek $18 million to assist Sudanese refugees in Ethiopia
27 September 2011 -
United Nations agencies and their aid partners today appealed for $18.3
million to help tens of thousands of refugees who are fleeing into western
Ethiopia to escape violence in Sudan's Blue Nile state.
The joint appeal by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (
<
http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home> UNHCR), the UN Children's Fund
( <
http://www.unicef.org/> UNICEF), the World Food Programme (
<
http://www.wfp.org/> WFP) and their partner agency, the International
Organization for Migration (IOM), is intended to help up to 35,000 refugees.
Both Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan states, which lie next to Sudan's
border with South Sudan, have been the scene of deadly fighting in recent
weeks. UN officials have called on all parties to cease hostilities and to
ensure access so that humanitarian workers can reach those who need help.
An estimated 25,000 refugees have arrived in Ethiopia since 3 September,
when the influx started, UNHCR spokesperson Adrian Edwards
<
http://www.unhcr.org/4e81ba6b9.html> told reporters in Geneva.
"With hostilities still ongoing in Sudan's Blue Nile state, we expect the
numbers to continue rising," he said, adding that new aerial bombings were
reported as recently as yesterday.
Refugees told UNHCR staff they had fled fighting around Damazine, the
capital of Blue Nile state, and had walked for up to a week to reach safety,
Mr. Edwards stated.
The agency said that refugees have mainly been entering Ethiopia via the
Kurmuk border point, with some 1,500 crossing reported last Friday alone. In
recent weeks people have been moving back and forth across the border, but
now more of those coming across are families carrying household belongings
and bringing livestock with them.
"Most of the refugees are staying in local communities around Kurmuk," said
Mr. Edwards. "Many are sleeping in the open, presenting increased risk of
illness and disease.
"An additional concern is the safety of refugees in villages near Kurmuk,
because of the area's proximity to locations in Sudan where bombing is
ongoing," he added.
UNHCR and the Ethiopian Government are seeking to relocate refugees to the
camp at Sherkole camp, some 50 kilometres to the south-east, where basic
services and better protection can be provided.
More than 3,000 people have been moved so far and the pace of relocations is
expected to increase as more refugee community leaders come forward to
request relocation.
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Sudan vows at UN to settle remaining disputes with South Sudan
26 September 2011 -
Sudan is committed to resolving all the remaining disputes related to its
peace accord with South Sudan, including border demarcation issues and the
division of oil revenues, the country's Foreign Minister told the General
Assembly today.
Ali Ahmed Karti <
http://gadebate.un.org/66/sudan> told the Assembly's
annual general debate that his country had accepted South Sudan's decision
to secede in July - not because it did not want unity, but because it wanted
stability and sustainable peace.
South Sudanese voted overwhelmingly for separation in a referendum at the
start of the year, held as part of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement
(CPA) that ended the long-running north-south civil war in Sudan.
But the two countries remain divided on some issues since secession,
including how to divide revenues from oil production and the exact border
between them.
In his address Mr. Karti said the Government in Khartoum was also giving
priority to resolving the conflict in the western region of Darfur, which
has been waged since 2003.
He backed the recently signed Doha Document for Peace in Darfur, a
Qatari-mediated agreement aimed at spurring an eventual comprehensive accord
to end the conflict, saying it responded to all the aspirations of the
people of the remote and arid region.
Mr. Karti said the resettlement of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and
refugees as a result of the conflict was now one of the key elements of the
Government's strategy to bring peace back to Darfur, where rebel groups have
fought Government forces and allied militiamen.
Mr. Karti met today with <
http://www.un.org/sg/> Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon, and the UN chief commended Khartoum for its peaceful implementation
of the South Sudan referendum. He encouraged the Foreign Minister to work
towards resolving all remaining issues.
But Mr. Ban voiced concern over continued deadly fighting in Southern
Kordofan and Blue Nile states, which lie next to the border with South
Sudan, and he called on the Sudanese Government to make progress so that a
cessation of hostilities can be struck and humanitarian workers can reach
those affected by the fighting.
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Received on Tue Sep 27 2011 - 09:06:26 EDT