Subject: [fem-women2000 522] Women's GlobalNet 156: 2 NGO/UN Bulletins
From: iwtc <iwtc@iwtc.org>
Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2000 08:11:01 -0700
Seq: 522
IWTC Women's GlobalNet #156
Activities and Initiatives of Women Worldwide
By Anne S. Walker
September 25, 2000
TWO NGO ELECTRONIC BULLETINS THAT GIVE UPDATES ON UNITED NATIONS
ACTIVITIES
This edition of IWTC Women痴 GlobalNet features two NGO electronic
bulletins regularly received here at IWTC. There is a selection from
each bulletin so that you will get a feel for the type of information
available. If you would like to continue receiving them, please see the
contact information at the end of each bulletin.
>From time to time, IWTC Women痴 GlobalNet will be featuring NGO
electronic bulletins and publications so that you will know what is out
there in the field of development communications, and where you can find
the information you need.
A. UN UPDATE
United Nations Association of the USA -UNA-USA
By Jonathan Cohen
1. UN staff worldwide demand better protection of aid workers
21 September -- Thousands of United Nations personnel gathered today in
cities, towns and villages around the world to demand better protection
for aid workers following the recent murders of four staff members of
the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
In New York, hundreds of staff members took part in a silent march in
front of UN Headquarters to honour slain aid workers and encourage
Member States to take effective measures to improve staff safety.
Addressing the marchers after the protest, Secretary-General Kofi Annan
said that despite the risks, UN staff must "become even more determined
to continue our work, to help the needy, to get the message out to these
families and others that their loved ones did not die in vain." He added
that "there are millions out there who need our help, and we cannot let
them down."
The Secretary-General said that he and other top UN officials had been
shocked by the attacks against UN staff who had given their lives in the
cause of peace. "We need to carry out our work but we need to be
careful," he said, adding, "we need to press governments to help protect
us."
Staff members march at UN Headquarters
In Geneva, over 1,000 people marched to a plaza near UNHCR Headquarters,
where they heard High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata call for
concrete measures from UN Member States to strengthen staff security.
"The international community must listen," she told the crowd. "I have
appealed many times to States, particularly those with the means, to
fully and forcefully take on their duty to safeguard the lives of all
aid workers." Ms. Ogata said her agency was urgently re-assessing the
security benchmarks that determine when to suspend its operations and
when to evacuate staff.
Also in Geneva today, a memorial service was held for Mensah Kpognon, a
veteran UNHCR staff member who was murdered early Sunday in Guinea.
Another aid worker, Sapeu Laurence Djeya, was abducted in that attack,
and still remains missing.
Vladimir Petrovsky, Director General of the UN Office in Geneva,
delivered a message on behalf of the Secretary-General. He said words
failed to express the outrage at the "senseless violence" against Mr.
Kpognon, as well as the anxiety for the safe release of Ms. Djeya.
2. Global Vaccine Fund Commits $150 Million in Vaccines and Funding Over
Five Years to 13 Developing Countries
Initial effort will reach four million children, save more than 100,000
lives per year; next disbursements in November
GENEVA, 20 September - The Global Fund for Children's Vaccines will give
more than US$150 million worth of vaccines and funding over five years
to improve immunization programs in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Thirteen countries will receive the first awards - Cambodia, Ce
d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guyana, Kenya, the Kyrgyz Republic, Laos, Madagascar,
Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Rwanda, and Tanzania. As a result, these
countries will be able to immunize four million children against
hepatitis B by the end of 2001, and more than 600,000 children who would
not otherwise have received any Immunizations will now be protected.
This represents a 10% increase in basic immunization coverage.
According to estimates, more than 100,000 lives will be saved every year
due to these initial grants.
"Never before have we been able to provide this level of assistance
directly to countries in such a short time. That is important because
immunization is one of our most cost-effective public health
interventions. Vaccines clearly save lives and it is unacceptable that
30 million children today are not fully vaccinated", said World Health
Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, chair of
the board of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), a
coalition of public and private Institutions. "The Global Fund is one
of a handful of financial tools being used to help reverse declining
immunization rates and to speed introduction of new and under-used
vaccines in the world's poorest countries."
The Global Fund award process is designed to efficiently channel
resources to developing country health systems. Approximately 98% of
current Global Fund resources will go directly to national immunization
programs. Thirtymore countries are expected to submit proposals to the
Global Fund for thenext review in October; subsequent reviews have been
scheduled throughout2001 And early 2002. The intention is to provide
some form of support toall 74 eligible countries - those with income of
less than $1,000 GNP percapita - over the next two years.
The Global Fund was launched earlier this year with an initial
contribution of $750 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
To date it has secured nearly $200 million in additional commitments
>from Norway, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Other
governments, including the Netherlands and Canada, have also expressed
interest in contributing to the Global Fund.
For more information on the Global Fund and GAVI, please visit
www.vaccinealliance.org
To receive this bulletin, contact:
Jonathan Cohen
United Nations Association of the USA
801 Second Avenue, 2nd Fl.
New York, NY 10017-4706
212-907-1300, ext. 325
212-682-9185 (fax)
jcohen@unausa.org
www.unausa.org
B. ICC UPDATE
CICC Secretariat, New York, NY. 21 September 2000
**4 RATIFICATIONS & 12 SIGNATURES during the MILLENNIUM SUMMIT**
"We must strive to end the culture of impunity - which is why the
creation of the International Criminal Court." Kofi Annan, We the
peoples: the role of the United Nations in the XXI century.
**RUSSIA SIGNS during the GA GENERAL DEBATE**
What is the Coalition?
The Coalition is a network of over one thousand civil society
organizations from around the world, working together towards a common
goal: the establishment of an International Criminal Court. The
Coalition has a number of national and regional networks in Africa,
Latin America, the Middle East, Asia, Europe, and North America.
What is the International Criminal Court?
The International Criminal Court will be a permanent court that will
investigate and bring to justice individuals who commit the most serious
violations of international humanitarian law, namely war crimes, crimes
against humanity, genocide, and once defined, aggression. Unlike the
International Court of Justice in The Hague, whose jurisdiction is
restricted to States, the ICC will have the capacity to indict
individuals. The ICC will be created on the basis of the Rome Statute, a
treaty adopted on July 17, 1998 in Rome at the United Nations Diplomatic
Conference of Plenipotentiaries.
When will the ICC be created?
The International Criminal Court will be established when sixty states
have both signed and ratified the Rome Statute. As of now, 112 nations
have signed the Statute, and 20 have ratified. The Coalition and
like-minded governments are seeking to achieve entry into force as
quickly as reasonably possible, a goal which cannot be realized without
the support of civil society and governments all over the world.
RATIFICATIONS CHART
1999
Senegal - 2 Feb
Trinidad and Tobago - 6 Apr
San Marino - 13 May
Italy - 26 Jul
Fiji - 29 November
Ghana - 20 December
2000
Norway - 16 February
Belize - 5 April
Tajikistan - 5 May
Iceland - 25 May
Venezuela - 7 June
France - 9 June
Belgium - 28 June
Canada - 7 July
Mali 16 August
Lesotho - 6 September
New Zealand - 7 September
Luxembourg - 8 September
Botswana - 8 September
Sierra Leone - 15 September
To receive this bulletin, contact:
Tunga Ganbold, Information Services
NGO Coalition for an International Criminal Court
777 UN Plaza 12th Floor
New York New York 10017, USA
Telephone +1 212 687 2176 Faxsimile +1 212 599 1332
Email cicc4@iccnow.org
Web http://www.iccnow.org
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