(This is a test run for a new weekly news service on
funding in the humanitarian sector. Please forward
comments about the service to Andrew Lawday
<[log in to unmask]>.)
* AFRICA: $7bn plan to fight HIV/AIDS
* AFGHANISTAN: World's worst disaster?
* DR CONGO: Donors fail 'horrific' crisis
* COLOMBIA: Europe pledges $300m for peace
* HUMAN RIGHTS: UN commission helps some, fails others
* OTHER NEWS: Angolans, Eritreans, Sierra Leoneans,
Sudanese
H U M A N I T A R I A N N E W S
Week 2-9 May, 2001
Issue Number: 2
[This weekly briefing is about global human security
needs, populations at risk, uprooted people and
victims of human rights violations. It aims to enable
private donors to make informed donations to save
lives. For advice on giving, contact
[log in to unmask]]
AFRICA: $7bn plan to fight HIV/AIDS
African leaders have declared a state of emergency
over AIDS and vowed to fight the disease as a top
priority. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan proposed a
fund of at least US$7 billion to bankroll the effort,
with education and awareness campaigns, HIV tests,
condoms, drugs, scientific research, care for orphans
and improved health-care systems. Only US$1billion
is currently spent on this. The amount proposed is
only slightly more than one percent of the world's
annual military spending. Africa remains the worst
affected region with 24 million of the 36 million
people living with HIV worldwide. It is estimated that
AIDS kills 10 times more people in Africa than war.
More than 18 million people have died of AIDS in the
continent since the epidemic began. The special summit
held in Nigeria under the auspices of the Organisation
of African Unity (OAU) was attended by 15 African
leaders, senior officials from 43 countries, former US
president Bill Clinton, and several UN agency chiefs.
[OAU http://www.oau-oua.org/afrsummit/contacts.htm; UN
Secretary-General
http://www.un.org/News/dh/latest/sg_accord.htm; UNAIDS
http://www.unaids.org/donations/index.html; IRIN - UN
Secretary-General proposes US $7-billion HIV/AIDS
fund;
http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/wa/countrystories/other/20010426.phtml;
Reuters - African summit leaders declare war on AIDS
http://www.alertnet.org/163367]
AFGHANISTAN: World's worst disaster?
UN refugee chief Ruud Lubbers has called for a
ceasefire in Afghanistan where war and drought have
left a million people facing famine. Since mid-2000, a
major humanitarian crisis has made 800,000 Afghans
homeless. Over four million Afghans remain as refugees
in Iran and Pakistan. Now the UN says a million
Afghans could face famine this year without more
international aid. But donors are put off by ongoing
fighting between Taleban and the northern opposition.
Fighting in the north has sent some 170,000 refugees
into Pakistan since last September. "Afghanistan is
the fastest growing crisis of internal displacement in
the world today," said Dennis McNamara, who lead a
7-member team from UN agencies. "With an active
conflict, colossal displacement, major human right
abuses, drought, a looming famine and a devastated
economy, Afghanistan is currently facing perhaps the
most disastrous humanitarian crisis in the entire
world," he said. McNamara called for a 'multi-layered
response,' including increased aid across the board -
shelter, health, food, water and sanitation, and
protection. He said aid workers immediately needed
funds for 10,000 new shelters for the displaced as
well as 10,000 tents. The current UN appeal for
US$254m would have to be revised upwards and requires
urgent support from donors.
[UNHCR - http://www.unhcr.ch/youhelp/youhelp.htm; OCHA
-
http://www.reliefweb.int/appeals/2001/afg/index.shtml;
AFP - UN refugee chief calls for ceasefire in
Afghanistan; BBC News - Lubbers visits Taliban
headquarters
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid_1305000/1305915.stm;
BBC News - Afghanistan's civil war 'insane'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid_1304000/1304143.stm;
Reuters - U.N. refugee chief says Afghan fighting a
scandal http://www.alertnet.org/163653; OCHA - UN
inter-agency mission visits Afghanistan: world's
fastest growing crisis of internal displacement;
Reuters - WFP warns of worsening food crisis in
Afghanistan http://www.alertnet.org/163244; IRIN -
Millions risk starvation if harvest fails: WFP
http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/asia/countrystories/afghanistan/20010425.phtml;
IRIN - Action now could prevent major catastrophe
http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/asia/countrystories/afghanistan/20010424.phtml;
Deutsche Welle - The Misery of the Afghan People
http://www.dwelle.de/english/topstory/20010430.html;
ICVA Talkback - Falling through the cracks: Afghans on
the Tajik border]
DR CONGO: Donors fail 'horrific' crisis
The UN Security Council has urged donor countries to
fund humanitarian efforts in the Democratic Republic
of Congo (DRC), where the situation is "horrific" and
the UN appeal for US$72 million remains only 13
percent funded. Meanwhile the International Rescue
Committee has found a shocking number of deaths in the
war-torn east of the country. A mortality study,
funded largely by the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation, found an estimated 2.5 million deaths
since fighting started in 1998. Most deaths were
related to disease and malnutrition, with fewer caused
directly by violence. But ongoing fighting has driven
hundreds of thousands of people into forests and
remote areas, where they have no food, medicine or
shelter. Insecurity has also put populations beyond
the reach of aid agencies, who reacted with shock at
the killings of six International Red Cross workers
found last week in northeastern DRC. Meanwhile the
national Red Cross Society said it has discovered
"people who were almost completely cut off from the
rest of the world" in the northern Katanga province
after repeated attacks last year. The society said
many of them are very malnourished and in poor shape
despite aid from the Italian NGO "Nuova Frontera."
Refugees International, concerned by the routine
recruitment of child soldiers in DRC, is urging more
international resources to help local organisations
trace missing children and for programmes to
reintegrate former child soldiers.
[OCHA -
http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/9ca65951ee22658ec125663300408599/f895f02e4e866d37c1256992004c6f13?OpenDocument;
IRIN - DRC: More funds needed for humanitarian work;
IRC - Preliminary findings indicate some two and a
half million deaths in Eastern Congo conflict; PANA -
Masses Under Rebels Starving in Northern Katanga
Province
http://allafrica.com/stories/200104300417.html;
Refugees International - Child Soldiers in the Eastern
Congo
IRIN - Annan, Security Council deplore ICRC murders
http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/cea/countrystories/drc/20010430.phtml;
IRIN - ICRC suspends work in Bunia after employees
killed
http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/cea/countrystories/drc/20010427.phtml]
COLOMBIA: Europe pledges $300m for peace
The European Union has pledged to increase to about
US$300 million its help for peace efforts in Colombia.
At a meeting this week in Brussels - attended by 30
governments, donor groups and humanitarian
organisations - the EU said it was not supporting a
military anti-drug offensive. The United States last
year approved almost US$1.3 billion in mostly military
aid under Plan Colombia - a US$7.5 billion programme
designed to bring peace to the country. Colombia's
Foreign Minister welcomed the new European support,
following disappointment at relatively small
contributions compared to US aid. The EU will also
fund regional 'peace laboratories' to support the
implementation of peace agreements and human rights
projects. Meanwhile fears are mounting that
paramilitaries are extending their terror in Colombia
and gaining control of densely populated areas in a
bid to elect an ultra-right mafia-backed leader in
elections next year.
[Reuters - EU boosts aid for Colombia peace efforts
http://www.alertnet.org/163656
BBC News - Colombia pins hope on European aid
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1304000/1304768.stm
EU - Commissioner Patten announces strong EU support
for Colombian peace process
US Department of State - Under Secretary Grossman
urges EU support for Plan Colombia
http://usinfo.state.gov
In These Times - An invasion foretold: Terror triumphs
in Colombia
http://www.inthesetimes.com/web2512/carrigan2512.html]
HUMAN RIGHTS: UN commission helps some, fails others
The yearly UN Human Rights Commission ended last
Friday with mixed results. The 53-nation body agreed
to do more to protect indigenous peoples' rights,
called for a global moratorium on the death-penalty,
and pledged to work on an international treaty on
"disappearances" - the abduction and killing of
political opponents. It condemned violations in Russia
(Chechnya), Iran and Cuba - but once again let China
off, after Beijing raised support from other
developing countries. UN Rights Commissioner Mary
Robinson said the meeting had tried to "rise above
political differences, national interests and
short-term considerations." Other countries criticised
this year included Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Myanmar
and Israel. However the commission's 3-year
representatives now include Algeria, China, Vietnam,
Libya and Cuba, risking the phenomenon of abusers
solidarity. Amnesty International welcomed the
progress on "disappearances", executions, and
indigenous peoples and the 'strong action' on Chechnya
and Iran. But it condemned failures to protect victims
of human rights violations in powerful countries like
China, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia. It also noted the
commission's 'premature' decision to drop
consideration of human rights violations in Rwanda,
and attacks on its own Special Rapporteurs. The motion
not to condemn China came a week after an anti-crime
campaign and the swift execution of 350 people.
[AP - UN Human-Rights Grp Ends Session, Sidesteps
China Rebuke
http://asia.biz.yahoo.com/news/asian_markets/article.html?s=asiafinance/news/010428/asian_markets/dowjones/UN_Human-Rights_Grp_Ends_Session__Sidesteps_China_Rebuke.html
HC closing statement at 57th CHR
http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/newsroom
Radio Free Europe - UN: Human Rights Panel Closes
Session With Mixed Results
http://www.rferl.org/nca/features/2001/04/27042001110516.asp
Amnesty International - UNCHR: Acts to prevent
"disappearances" but continues to ignore grave
violations in some countries
Human Rights Watch - U.N.: Progress On Disappearances
Pact Hailed
ICVA Talkback - Moving Ahead On The IDP Debate
OTHER NEWS
Aid workers in Angola are seeking new funds to meet
emerging needs while UN agencies have received only 15
percent of funds previously requested; Refugees
International has urged donors to expand support for
government-led recovery programmes in the country.
Eritreans face serious food shortages, said the World
Food Programme, appealing for US$33 million to help
700,000 people hit by drought and crop failure,
aggravated by war.
In Sierra Leone, Refugees International is urging
massive internationally-funded reconstruction efforts
with special attention to the many single women
returnees amid overwhelming numbers of people
returning and moving.
In southern Sudan, the World Food Programme has found
high malnutrition rates among 53,000 displaced people
in Bentiu, where Amnesty International says civilians
have arrived from government attacks to empty areas
conceded to international oil companies like Talisman
Energy - whom it accuses of playing down human rights
violations.
The European Commission last week earmarked some
US$28m for humanitarian needs in Tanzania, host to
Africa’s largest refugee population - including more
than 370,000 Burundians and 110,000 Congolese.
[OCHA - First Quarter Update on Consolidated
Inter-Agency Appeal 2001; Refugees International -
Angola: New Efforts To Build Local Capacity; Refugees
International - Angola: UNHCR Succeeds In Helping
Internally Displaced; IRIN - ERITREA: One quarter of
Eritreans at risk
http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/cea/countrystories/eritrea/20010430.phtml;
IRIN - Malnutrition rates in Bentiu "among the
highest"
http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/cea/countrystories/sudan/20010427a.phtml;
IRIN - SUDAN: Government acknowledges drought crisis
http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/cea/countrystories/sudan/20010427.phtml;
Amnesty International - Talisman Energy must do more
to protect human rights; IRIN - TANZANIA: EU allocates
US $28.8 million for humanitarian needs
http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/cea/countrystories/tanzania/20010424.phtml]
Ends/020501/2
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Note: The material contained in this communication
comes to you from the Forced Migration Discussion List
which is moderated by the Refugee Studies Centre
(RSC), University of Oxford. It does not necessarily
reflect the views of the RSC or the University. If you
re-print, copy, archive or re-post this message please
retain this disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should
include attribution to the original sources.
List archives are available at
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/forced-migration.html.
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Auctions - buy the things you want at great prices
http://auctions.yahoo.com/
|
