‘United Nations’

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1:06 am Aug 25, 2010
Africa: “Almost 200 women gang-raped by Congo rebels”
Congo • United Nations

“Almost 200 women were gang-raped by rebel fighters who imposed a four-day reign of terror on a town in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, aid groups said.  Rwandan Hutu FDLR insurgents and Mai Mai militia haunt eastern Congo, terrorising civilians and raping thousands of women each year, despite a UN-backed campaign by the Congolese army aimed at neutralising the armed gangs.  On July 30, FLDR and Mai Mai groups attacked the town of Luvungi in North Kivu province, which they then controlled until August 3.  ’During the attack [the rebels] looted [the] population’s houses and raped several women in Luvungi and surrounding areas’, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) spokesperson Stefania Trassari said.  ’International Medical Corps (IMC) reported that FDLR systematically raped the population during its four-day stay in Luvungi and surrounding areas. A total of 179 cases of sexual violence were reported’, Ms Trassari said, adding all of the cases were of rape against women.  Humanitarian group the IMC said it was treating the victims.  ’Nearly all reported rapes were described as having been perpetrated by two to six armed men, often taking place in front of the women’s children and husbands’, it said in a statement.  The United Nations has withdrawn 1,700 peacekeepers in recent months in response to calls from Congo’s government to end the mission next year but still supports operations against several armed groups in the east”

9:28 pm Aug 23, 2010
“Pakistan facing a ‘slow-motion tsunami’ “
Pakistan • United Nations

“An emergency session of the United Nations has been told Pakistan is facing potential political and economic instability in the wake of catastrophic flooding.  The stark warning came from Pakistan’s foreign minister but was echoed by US officials including the secretary of state, Hillary Clinton.  Ms Clinton announced a boost of US aid funding, but the Americans also criticised Pakistan’s regional allies, including China, for not doing their part.  Weeks after the disaster first hit, the UN convened with a graphic video showing the extent of the inundation.  UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon says the rains that continue to swamp Pakistan are a ‘slow-motion tsunami’.  The special session was called because of concerns that the flow of international aid is not matching the scale of the catastrophe, one that Mr Ban says is affecting more people than Pakistan’s 2005 earthquake, the Indian Ocean tsunami, and the Haiti earthquake combined.  ’At least 160,000 square kilometres of land is underwater, an area larger than more than half of the countries of the world’, he said.  Lifting a US promise of $90 million in aid to $150 million, Ms Clinton warned against international donor fatigue after what she called an unrelenting stream of disasters this year”

1:16 pm Aug 16, 2010
Pakistan Floods: “Twenty million are homeless after deluge”
Pakistan • United Nations

“Twenty million people are homeless after Pakistan’s worst flooding in decades, the country’s prime minister has revealed.  The figure was announced as new flood surges hit Pakistan’s south.
The crisis began in late July when unusually heavy monsoon rains swept across the country from its mountainous northwest.  About 1,500 people have died as a result, and aid workers warned that diseases could raise that toll.  In a televised address to the nation, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said 20 million were now homeless, but did not elaborate.  It was unclear how many of those people were briefly forced to leave their homes and how many had lost their houses altogether.  But hundreds of thousands of homes have been destroyed and many flood victims are living in muddy camps or overcrowded government buildings.  Thousands more are sleeping in the open, next to their cows, goats and whatever possessions they managed to drag with them.  The disaster has also battered Pakistan’s economy and undermined its political stability at a time when America needs its steadfast cooperation against Islamist extremism.  The UN has appealed for an initial £295m to provide aid but said billions will be needed to rebuild once the flooding recedes.  Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has met with flood victims in the northwest. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was expected to visit country soon.  Meanwhile, fresh flood waves have swelled the River Indus, threatening nearby cities, towns and villages in southern Sindh province, said meteorologist Mohammed Ajmal Shad.
The Indus was already more than 15 miles wide at some points – 25 times wider than during normal monsoon seasons.  Authorities were trying to evacuate or warn people in Jacobabad, Hyderabad, Thatta, Ghotki, Larkana and other areas.  One case of cholera was confirmed in Mingora, the main town in the northwest’s Swat Valley, UN spokesman Maurizio Giuliano said”

9:36 pm Aug 13, 2010
“Flooding raises fears of disease in Pakistan”
Pakistan • United Nations

“The United Nations warned  of a possible second wave of deaths in flood-ravaged Pakistan while health workers struggled to forestall outbreaks of water-borne disease.  The Pakistan Meteorological Department said more rain was forecast across much of Pakistan and in Kashmir on Friday in addition to a new series of government flood warnings for Punjab and Sindh provinces that could last into the weekend — a stark prospect as the nation prepared to mark its independence on Saturday.  Health workers said that, while supplies of food and safe drinking water have been a priority, they have been alarmed by health hazards from dirty floodwater warming in the daytime summer heat.  ‘If we don’t act fast enough, the death toll will increase’,  said Maurizio Giuliano, spokesman for the United Nations humanitarian effort. He said about 36,000 potentially lethal cases of acute diarrhea had been reported to health authorities.  In southern Punjab Province, the government was trying to help large numbers of people on the move as new flood fears remained in the Muzzafargarh District.  Up to 800,000 people in the district were evacuated late Thursday, and remained camped along the sides of roads, said Farasat Iqbal, the district administrator.  Many areas outside of Muzzafargarh city remained underwater on Friday, Mr. Iqbal said.  The city is under threat from the River Chenab.  The next 24 hours are crucial’,  he said.   Many parts of the districts, including towns and villages, are inundated’.  New flooding also was reported in the Rajan Pur district in southern Punjab Province, said district police officer Suhail Zafar Chathha.  ‘The water is five to six feet up in many towns and villages in the district, including the worst-hit areas of Jampur and Kot Mithan’,  Mr. Chathha said.   ‘More than 60 percent of the population of the district is affected and more flooding is coming’.  The flooding began in late July when heavy monsoon rains caused the Indus River to swell past flood barriers and sweep south through the country.  About 14 million people have been affected by the floods, and as many as 1,600 people have died so far.  The death toll, as well as damage to the country’s infrastructure and livestock, may be far greater than suggested by early estimates, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said in a report carried by the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan.  The flooding has affected as much as a quarter of Pakistan, Mr. Giuliano, the United Nations official, said in a telephone interview, and the relief effort is proving to be a massive logistical challenge for the government and relief agencies.  ‘We’re assessing a situation while the disaster is still evolving’, he said”

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