UN News Centre - Africa

In Brussels, United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson today urged an international conference for the Central African Republic (CAR) to show solidarity and pledge the necessary financial support to the Government-identified priorities and reforms needed for the African country’s rehabilitation and stabilization.

At the United Nations Climate Conference (COP 22) under way in Marrakech, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) participated in the launch of a ground breaking map of restoration opportunities to combat climate change in Africa, an area being called the ‘Great Green Wall.’

A United Nations human rights expert has appealed to the Government of Nigeria for an urgent explanation of the forced eviction of 30,000 people in Lagos state in the last week.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki moon has taken note of the appointment today of Samy Badibanga as Prime Minister ahead of the formation of a transitional government of national unity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in line with the political agreement of 18 October.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissions on Refugees (UNHCR) welcomed a statement today from the Government of Kenya in which it reiterated its continued search for solutions for refugees at the Dadaab camp, where it has been hosting and protecting refugees from Somalia for many years.

The justice system in the Central African Republic (CAR) must be urgently strengthened if the country is to achieve lasting peace, a United Nations human rights expert has said, ahead of a major donors’ conference in Brussels, Belgium, tomorrow, which aims to raise funds in support of the country’s national peace-building plan.

Ahead of tomorrow&#39s Brussels conference for the Central African Republic (CAR), the United Nations Security Council emphasized the &#8220significant role&#8221 the gathering will play in expressing the firm political support of international community and to secure essential resources to assist the country to implement key recovery and stabilization priorities over the next three to five years.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today hosted today a signing ceremony on the margins of the 22nd Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) (popularly known as COP-22) in Morocco’s capital Marrakech.

A senior United Nations relief official today announced the release of $12 million from the Humanitarian Fund in Central African Republic (CAR) for 26 projects for national and international non-governmental organizations and UN agencies in the sub-Saharan country.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) will make the situation in Libya a priority in 2017, its prosecutor said today, citing the widespread violence, lawlessness and impunity in the country and the tragic consequences of the conflict borne by civilians.

The United Nations envoy on conflict prevention has said that the international community and the Government of Burundi would find a common ground for implementing the Security Council resolution that proposes the deployment of unarmed UN police officers through continued dialogue.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned today’s attack against peacekeepers of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), which resulted in the death of one Congolese girl and injuries to 32 ‘blue helmets.’

As the conflict in South Sudan grinds on, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned today that 31 per cent of the country’s population, or 3.7 million people, are facing a severe food security risk, despite the end of the lean food season and start of harvests – a major increase from the one million who were in a similar situation at this time last year.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has strongly condemned the deadly attack yesterday in northern Mali that claimed the life of two Malian civilians and killing one peacekeeper from Togo while injuring seven others.

The ongoing conflict in South Sudan has led to immense suffering and displacement, with an average of 3,500 people fleeing the country each day to neighbouring countries, prompting the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), national authorities, and other humanitarian actors to race to create safe and humane conditions for arrivals – 90 per cent of whom are women and children.

After an independent inquiry found that the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) failed to protect civilians as deadly violence broke out in and around its premises in the capital, Juba, in July, the top UN peacekeeping official today announced that he has established a task force to carry out the probe’s recommendations, which include ensuring greater accountability of the mission’s leadership.

Strongly condemning repeated violations of the ceasefire arrangements by the Plateforme and Coordination in and around northern Mali’s restive Kidal town, the United Nations Security Council today warned that such acts threaten the viability of the peace agreement in the country and called on the armed groups to immediately cease hostilities and return to dialogue.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed today the announcement of the adoption of the new Constitution in Côte d'Ivoire by the Commission Electorale Indépendante, which followed the 30 October constitutional referendum.

Welcoming a six-month unilateral cessation of hostilities by the Sudan Liberation Army-Minni Minnawi and the Justice and Equality Movement-Gibril, the African Union (AU)-United Nations mission in Darfur today called on Abdul Wahid El Nur, the leader of the Sudan Liberation Army-Abdul Wahid to also make a similar declaration.

Expressing concern over what they called an &#8220unjustified&#8221 ban on protests in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a group of United Nations human rights experts today called on the authorities to protect the fundamental rights of the people and to revoke the prohibition.