UN Says World Economic Recovery Shaky

The world economy is slowly recovering from the global financial crisis but growth will remain fragile, says the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) in its new report on the economic prospects for 2010-2011. The report predicts a 2.9% growth in the US for 2010, and a drop back to 2.5% in 2011. “The good news is that the crisis in the world economy has abated and we see a continued recovery," says Rob Vos, Director of Development Policy Analysis of DESA. "but at the same time it is weak and uneven."

While the market for primary commodities has bounced back strongly, favoring “Developed” Asia (Japan, Korea, etc), other regions such as Latin America, Africa and Western Asia have seen no such growth.

With credit supplies and private consumption remaining low, Vos says that the current rebound in the world economy is heavily dependent on the fiscal and monetary stimulus plans. As most of these measures will be phased out by 2011, private sector growth in the coming year will have an important impact on the predicted rates.

Although stimulus packages played a key part helping the global economy bounce back, Vos believes that these measures, along with an overall decrease in tax revenues, are in part responsible for the current public debt crisis and widening budget deficits that are likely to be obstacles to substantial economic growth in the coming years. Vos also highlighted high unemployment rates and exchange rate volatility as continuing “crises" in part responsible the world financial markets mediocre growth prospects.

Permanent Members Of UN Security Council Agree On Proposed Iran Sanctions

The Permanent Members of the Security Council ( China, Russia, France, UK and US) agreed on a resolution draft for another round of sanctions against Iran one day after Turkey and Brazil announced they had brokered a nuclear fuel exchange with the Iranian regime, a move many believed would impede US negotiations for sanctions.

But the draft presented late this afternoon to the Security Council has already received a cold reaction from Brazilian Ambassador Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, who told reporters Brazil would not participate in debating the proposed resolution because it believes there is a better way to resolve the conflict.

"The draft seeks to support, not replace, our efforts to engage Iran diplomatically" said US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice."We've said through out this process that the door remains open to Iran to live up to its obligations and achieve a better relationship with the international community."

Rice said the new resolution aims to expand on existing UN resolutions by creating new categories of sanctions likely to "increase the cost" on Iranian authorities if they continue to flaunt their international nuclear obligations. Such measures would include new restrictions on Iran's import of conventional arms, provisions to block its use of international financial systems to fund nuclear proliferation and creating an annex of specific individuals and entities who would be subject to asset freezes and travel bans.

French Ambassador to the UN Gerard Araud said the agreement on the draft resolution reached by Security Council Members, all of whom have " very different political positions and interests", was proof of the international community's shared concern over the Iranian nuclear program.

Russia and China have been the main opponents to another round of sanctions on Iran, but Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters that, although Russsia would not have objected to a brief pause between the Brazilian-Turkish fuel swap and today's resolution draft, his government was satisfied with the general parameters of the sanctions.

"It is a language that is acceptable to us because it is focused adequately on non-proliferation matters and it is not supposed to create any problems for normal economic activity in Iran, it is not supposed to cause any humanitarian damage for Iran" said Churkin , adding that details about the annexes still need to be worked out and that consultations with non-permanent members of the Security Council on the matter would continue in the coming weeks.

Security No Barrier To Lifting Gaza Blockade, Says UN Official

As the third year of the Israeli blockade of Gaza approaches, the head of the UN's operation in Gaza says humanitarian needs of the local population must be urgently addressed if there is any hope of moving the political situation forwards.

Speaking to reporters in New York, John Ging, Director of UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine) Operations in Gaza, acknowledged that while recent Israeli easing of restrictions on supplies for Gaza are welcomed, they nevertheless remain relatively insignificant on the larger scale.

"It is bewilderingly difficult on a daily basis, it's a struggle to survive.The infrastructiure of water and sanitation is in a state of collapse. There is no legitimate economy anymore, nor is there any prospect of the restoration of the legitimate economy because there is no commercial trade into or out of the Gaza strip." said Ging,"The increases in access are a drop in a bucket. The context is so great, the scale of the need is so large."

Regardless of the extent of their impact, Ging says these positive developments need to be built upon. "The arguments that have been put forward to excuse this blockade are now being undermined by these positive developments because it is now demonstrated that there are ways to overcome the security challenges. The practical proof is that it can be done. "

Ging says his main concern now is to make sure children in Gaza are registered for the coming school year and that the necessary facilities are available. Last year, UNWRA was unable to accommodate thousands of students and, as the the school age population in Gaza continues to grow, the situation is expected to worsen.

"We have not been allowed to build a school in Gaza for three years." said Ging "We have used all the containers that were available in Gaza to build extra classrooms, to convert shipping containers into classrooms. We've used all of the ingenuity and creativity that we can to try and accommodate as many of the children who are entitled to register, but we've exhausted all of those means. "

Israel and other UN member states have in the past voiced concern over the curriculum used by UN schools in Gaza, fearing it could promote extremism or violence, but Ging says all teaching staff is closely vetted by the UN in order to provide a non-political education.

"We use the textbooks of the Palestinian authority, the very same textbooks that the state of Israel uses in occupied East Jerusalem...and we enrich those textbooks with human rights curriculum built around the values of the Universal Declaration. Its about academic development, its about the development of values and its also about critical thought and a positive mindset."

UN Addresses War, Piracy In Somalia

New York---The security council adopted a resolution today supporting the extension of the African Union peacekeeping operation in Somalia (AMASOM) for another year. US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice stated that the resolution underscored the importance of support for the transitional federal government and expressed concern about the country’s deteriorating humanitarian situation.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner For Refugees, over 100 000 Somali’s have been forced out of Mogadishu in the past month due to an escalation in fighting between armed groups, many of which have increasingly targeted civilians and humanitarian organizations. The World Food Program (WFP) was forced to suspend its food distribution earlier this month, and will remain unable to resume service until security conditions are stabilized.

A report released in Geneva earlier today by Dr Shamsul Bari, the UN’s independent expert on human rights in Somalia, highlighted the devastating consequences of the conflict on civilian populations and called on the international community to strengthen its engagement to the country. “ The Islamist forces fighting to topple the TGF (Transitional Government Forces ) are reported to have carried out extrajudicial executions, planted mines, bombs and other explosive devices in civilian areas, and used civilians as human shields.” said Bari, who also warned that the growth of piracy along the Somali coast was an important security threat to the region. The UN Contact Group on piracy off the coast of Somalia also convened today to discuss possible initiatives and solutions to counter the dangers posed by pirates.

In an attempt to set up safe transport corridors for commercial vessels and protect WFP food shipments into Mogadishu, the European Union has been conducting naval operations (EUNAVFOR) along the Somali coast since late 2008. According to EUNAVFOR Chief of Staff Captain Paul Chivers, the total number of attacks has continued to increase, although the number of successful ones has diminished. There are currently 9 ships being held by pirates off the coast of Somalia.

Al-Qaida/Taliban Terrorist List Gains In Numbers According To UN Sanctions Team

Richard Barrett, the UN's coordinator for the al-Qaida/Taliban sanctions monitoring team for Afghanistan said maintaining the rule of law is the UN's key objective in the coming months.  He discussed the ongoing consolidation of the suspected terrorist list being drawn together with cooperation from member states at the United Nations.

UN Resolution 1822, adopted by the Security Council in June 2008, cites "terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to peace and security" and seeks to improve transparency among countries and bring suspected terrorists forward.

"What we are looking for is a credible list in the fight against terrorism" H.E. Mr. Thomas Mayr-Harting, Permanent Representative of Austria and Chairman of the al Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee said. ""There is a whole technique in this process, we write to the countries involved, and we wait for their responses. The team also has to provide narrative summaries for why suspected terrorists are initially put on the list."

The 1267 Committee or Sanctions Committee), which is tasked with consolidating the list of the over 500 suspected terrorists, has a mandate to:

* freeze without delay the funds and other financial assets or economic resources of designated individuals and entities [assets freeze],
* prevent the entry into or transit through their territories by designated individuals
[travel ban], and
* prevent the direct or indirect supply, sale and transfer from their territories or by their nationals outside their territories, or using their flag vessels or aircraft, of arms and related materiel of all types, spare parts, and technical advice, assistance, or training related to military activities, to designated individuals and entities [arms embargo].

Additionally, UN Resolution 1822 welcomes continued cooperation with INTERPOL, in particular on the "development of Special Notices, which assists Member States in their implementation of the measures, and recognizing the role of the Analytical Support and Sanctions Implementation Monitoring Team (“the Monitoring Team”) in this regard".  The Sanction Committee therefore has the right to authorize, enact and implement sanctions in suspected terrorist countries through border patrols and policing systems.

Mr. Barrett, who heads the monitoring team, explained that most of these suspected terrorist names on the list are focused on the Pakistan/Afghan border and in North Africa, where Algeria is listed as the main threat in the region. "There are also increases in recruits further South, namely Mauritania and Niger." Somalia was also highlighted on the watch list. Barrett added the Afghan border with Iran was recently being examined in regards to drug smuggling.

(video on website)