Tuesday
Nov042008
UN Security Council President highlights the Congo and arms control as key concerns
Tuesday, November 4, 2008 at 1:14PM
Ambassador Urbina from Costa Rica gave a briefing on the program of work for the Security Council in the coming month. He underscored the importance of this historical program to open up as many activities as possible.
There will be consultations and a high level event on collective security and armament regulation on November 19th. The President of Costa Rica will be in attendance with ministers of foreign affairs and special envoys. There have been concerns cited by several countries including representatives on the expansive army build-up in East Timor. The hope is to reach consensus and adopt an outcome.
Ambassador Urbina said: "Talking about arms control in the Organization is a very delicate issue. We Latin- Americans believe that arms control is an achievable goal and we believe that through arms control we could give an incentive to some countries to reduce military expenditures. Our main concern is that the developing world reduce arms expenditures as cited in the United Nations Charter under Article 26 and which the Security Council has not reviewed since 1947."
Urbina also emphasized the important elections on the International Court of Justice this month. The Ambassador hopes the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will improve with the visit of the Prime Ministers of France and the United Kingdom. Leaders will visit with the goal to improve the relationship between the governments of Rwanda and Congo. There is a fixed date to follow up on the situation of the DRC on the 26th of this month. The issue of rising tensions in Djibouti and Eritrea will be brought to the attention of Council as well.
Daily Update:
Fighting has resumed in the Democratic Republic of Congo, especially in the eastern part of the country. As of today, violence seems to be limited to rebel held territories. United Nations peacekeepers appear to be trapped in the crossfire but the ceasefire seems to be holding in Goma.
There are currently 5,000 peacekeepers in North Kivu. UN officials are visiting with the Congolese Prime Minister today to discuss the situation of the 60 percent children left homeless. Over 250,000 people have been displaced in the past two months. Nearly 1 million have been displaced since the start of the conflict. The World Health Organization and the World Food Program are calling for more support to meet urgent health needs. The International Criminal Court representatives have expressed serious concern over crimes, thefts and rapes being committed against civilians in the rebel held areas.
Iran's parliament has impeached the country's interior minister in a vote widely seen as a defeat for President Mahmoud Ahmadenijad.
In Iraq, the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) supported the call today by the Iraqi Council of Representatives (CoR) to allocate specific seats for representatives of Iraq's minorities. The adoption of the amendment to the electoral law should be seen as a contribution towards furthering the respect for human rights and democracy in Iraq.
There will be consultations and a high level event on collective security and armament regulation on November 19th. The President of Costa Rica will be in attendance with ministers of foreign affairs and special envoys. There have been concerns cited by several countries including representatives on the expansive army build-up in East Timor. The hope is to reach consensus and adopt an outcome.
Ambassador Urbina said: "Talking about arms control in the Organization is a very delicate issue. We Latin- Americans believe that arms control is an achievable goal and we believe that through arms control we could give an incentive to some countries to reduce military expenditures. Our main concern is that the developing world reduce arms expenditures as cited in the United Nations Charter under Article 26 and which the Security Council has not reviewed since 1947."
Urbina also emphasized the important elections on the International Court of Justice this month. The Ambassador hopes the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will improve with the visit of the Prime Ministers of France and the United Kingdom. Leaders will visit with the goal to improve the relationship between the governments of Rwanda and Congo. There is a fixed date to follow up on the situation of the DRC on the 26th of this month. The issue of rising tensions in Djibouti and Eritrea will be brought to the attention of Council as well.
Daily Update:
Fighting has resumed in the Democratic Republic of Congo, especially in the eastern part of the country. As of today, violence seems to be limited to rebel held territories. United Nations peacekeepers appear to be trapped in the crossfire but the ceasefire seems to be holding in Goma.
There are currently 5,000 peacekeepers in North Kivu. UN officials are visiting with the Congolese Prime Minister today to discuss the situation of the 60 percent children left homeless. Over 250,000 people have been displaced in the past two months. Nearly 1 million have been displaced since the start of the conflict. The World Health Organization and the World Food Program are calling for more support to meet urgent health needs. The International Criminal Court representatives have expressed serious concern over crimes, thefts and rapes being committed against civilians in the rebel held areas.
Iran's parliament has impeached the country's interior minister in a vote widely seen as a defeat for President Mahmoud Ahmadenijad.
In Iraq, the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) supported the call today by the Iraqi Council of Representatives (CoR) to allocate specific seats for representatives of Iraq's minorities. The adoption of the amendment to the electoral law should be seen as a contribution towards furthering the respect for human rights and democracy in Iraq.
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