DSG/SM/505
AFR/1976

Following are UN Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro's remarks to the international conference "Africa, an Opportunity for the World: Realities and Challenges", in Yaoundé, today, 18 May:

I would like to express my deep appreciation for your warm welcome. We have been made to feel very much at home here in Cameroon.

On behalf of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the entire United Nations system, I would like to express our congratulations on your nation's fiftieth anniversary since independence. I was too young

SC/9640

Security Council
6108th Meeting (AM & PM)

Hears from More than 40 Speakers in Day-Long Debate; Political Affairs Head Presents Report on Enhancing Effectiveness of UN Mediation

The Security Council, the principle United Nations body charged with the maintenance of international peace and security, cited today the importance of mediation and expressed its readiness to explore further ways and means to reinforce the promotion of mediation as an important tool for the peaceful settlement of disputes "wherever possible before they evolve into violence".

Announcing a partnership determined "to put hunger out of business", the Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP) unveiled a groundbreaking initiative to help poor farmers in the developing world -- reeling from the triple shock of global food, fuel and financial crises -- raise their incomes.

The new initiative, Purchase for Progress, or "P4P", announced at a Headquarters press conference this morning, joins WFP, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Howard G. Buffett Foundation in connecting hundreds of thousands of farmers to reliable markets,

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

JOHANNESBURG, 25 October (PLUSNEWS) - Conflict and displacement translate into high numbers of HIV infections, fuelling the global epidemic. Or does it? It's an assumption that has stigmatised refugees and displaced people, but experts are now turning the hypothesis on its head.

According to Dr Paul Spiegel, senior HIV/AIDS technical officer with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), in many cases, conflict and humanitarian emergencies may actually work to limit HIV infections.

Following is a near verbatim transcript of today's noon briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

Good afternoon, and welcome back and Happy New Year.

Security Council

Tanzania has assumed the rotating Presidency of the Security Council for the month of January, and Ambassador Augustine Mahiga is holding bilateral talks with other Council members today about their work over the coming month.

As the year begins, five new Council members -- Ghana, Peru, Qatar, the Republic of Congo and Slovakia -- are

WASHINGTON, Sept 3 (AFP) - The United States on Wednesday announced the termination of a program that gave special status to refugees from Sierra Leone, saying conditions in the country had improved to the extent it was now safe for them to return.
At the same time, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said he was extending the so-called "Temporary Protected Status" (TPS) program for refugees from Burundi and Sudan because those nations remain at war.

After consulting with the State Department, Ridge said he had determined that Sierra Leone no longer met the criteria

MONROVIA, Feb 27 (Reuters) - A study in West Africa has revealed the widespread sexual exploitation of refugee children by aid workers and peacekeepers in exchange for supplies sent to save lives.

The scandal, details of which emerged on Tuesday, is the latest in a series involving sex and corruption to taint aid and peacekeeping operations on the world's poorest continent.

Below are some scandals in recent years:

1994

February - United Nations says investigation reveals that some peacekeeping troops in Mozambique paid for sex with children.

1997

The Executive Director of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Carol Bellamy, told a Headquarters press briefing this afternoon that education was the most important means of preventing the exploitation of children in armed conflict. The early re-establishment of education programmes must be part of any effort to protect and rehabilitate children once a conflict was over, she said.
Also speaking at the briefing were the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Olara Otunnu; and David Hirsch, President of World Vision. The

UNITED NATIONS
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Integrated Regional Information Network for West Africa
Tel: +225 21 73 54
Fax: +225 21 63 35
e-mail: irin-wa@ocha.unon.org

SIERRA LEONE: Missing priests reportedly safe

Sixteen people missing since Friday, including the Bishop of Makeni, Giorgio Biguzzi, two priests and various aid workers, are now safe, the Missionary News Agency (MISNA) reported.

MISNA had reported on Monday that Biguzzi was believed to have been detained by members of the Armed Forces Revolutionary