Ebola: UN development chief begins last leg of West Africa mission

The top United Nations development official today began the last leg of her Ebola-recovery focused visit to West Africa a day after she witnessed the reopening of schools in Liberia and urged the international community to support “recovery from this terrible crisis” beyond the emergency phase. Before leaving the Liberian capital, Monrovia, Helen Clark, Administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), said late Monday that the crisis will not be over until there are zero cases of Ebola, which has affected more 23,000 people, with some 9,300 deaths. “It is clear that no one will be happy until there are zero cases across all three epicentre countries,” the UNDP Administrator told a press conference in Monrovia. “But the important message now is that international solidarity with Liberia should not end at the end of the emergency phase. It must continue in support of recovery from this terrible crisis. Noting schools had re-opened in Liberia on Monday, shuttered for more than six months to help prevent transmission, were finally re-opened, she said Liberia was emerging from a “very traumatic time”. There was now, she said, reason for hope. Tasked by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the lead the UN system's recovery efforts, UNDP is committed to working with Liberia as it follows its path to recovery in a way that is consistent with the Government and people’s own longer term development aspirations. Among the highlights of her visit to Liberia, according to UNDP, was a meeting with Josephine Dolley, an Ebola survivor who lost 29 members of her family including her husband and three children. Ms. Dolley has adopted six children whom she met whilst in an Ebola Emergency Treatment Unit, all of them Ebola survivors who lost their parents and siblings. The UNDP administrator also met with the so-called “Pink Panthers” motorcycle club, a group of women who offer motorbike taxi services. UNDP has been working with the women riders to find ways to make their jobs safer, including in the context of Ebola. Ms. Clark was invited to be an honorary member of the Pink Panthers, and was presented with her own pink jacket. Ms. Clark also told the press conference that an upcoming meeting in Brussels, Belgium, would be aimed at maintaining international solidarity around achieving zero Ebola cases and considering the support needed to help Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone recover from the crisis. As she began the final leg of her mission to the three-worst affected countries by the Ebola outbreak with a two-day visit to Sierra Leone, where she arrived late Monday, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) announced that Ebola-ravaged rural communities in Guinea will benefit from new food security initiatives. FAO said tens of thousands of people in rural areas of Guinea worst-hit by the Ebola epidemic will receive training on how to prevent the spread of the disease and support in producing food and generating income, through an agreement involving the World Bank and the country's government. As part of the initiative, $5 million will be invested in FAO’s Ebola Response Programme, which aims to assist rural households whose livelihoods and access to food are severely threatened by the impact of Ebola. Some 30,000 households will be sensitized on measures to counter the transmission of the disease in rural areas. Experienced rural development and extension field workers will undertake awareness activities combined with the provision of hygiene kits to rural communities. Beneficiaries include hunters and women who used to sell bush meat but lost this source of income after authorities banned this trade in order to reduce the potential risk of exposure to Ebola through contact with wildlife. The programme will also target women groups involved in rice-processing activities. According to the latest FAO/World Food Programme Crop and Food Security Assessment, a total of 470,000 people might be food insecure by March 2015 due to the Ebola outbreak.

SOUTH SUDAN: Protection of civilians ‘critical part’ of UN mandate

United Nations peacekeepers must continue to provide critical protections for civilians in South Sudan as the country slowly emerges from a year-long stretch of internecine conflict, the head of the UN Mission (UNMISS) there declared today. During a visit to the city of Bor, Ellen Margrethe Løj, who is also the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for South Sudan, commended the efforts of the Second Ethiopian Battalion and UN civilian and military staff in maintaining the UNMISS mandate. More than 1,200 Ethiopian peacekeepers are currently deployed to monitor South Sudan’s fragile peace and maintain footholds in the cities of Malakal, Bentiu, and the capital, Juba. “It is a critical part of the Mission’s mandate to protect civilians, both inside the UN camps and outside,” said Ms. Løj, as she reviewed the “blue helmets” at a Medal Parade. “Our troops must ensure safety and security beyond the camps, out in the communities. I am convinced that the Ethiopian Contingents will be in the front line in this regard.” The security situation in South Sudan deteriorated steadily over the past year since political in-fighting between South Sudan's President Salva Kiir and his former deputy, Riek Machar, started in mid-December 2013. The hostilities subsequently turned into a full-fledged conflict that has sent nearly 100,000 civilians fleeing to UNMISS bases around the country. The crisis has uprooted an estimated 1.9 million people and placed more than 7 million at risk of hunger and disease. Nonetheless, a recent peace deal between the warring factions has fostered hope of a definitive end to the year-long conflict. In a press release, UNMISS reported that Ms. Løj also met with UN staff during a visit to the Organization’s compound in Bor where she remained “very impressed” by their efforts to adjust to the current situation. In addition, she congratulated them for their “commitment to the Mission’s mandate as they continue to protect civilians in Jonglei State including those sheltering in the Mission’s compound.” According to estimates, some 112,000 civilians are currently protected by UNMISS at the Mission’s protection sites throughout South Sudan while more than 2,600 civilians have found safety in Bor alone. The Special Representative also visited the Sri Lankan military field hospital which has treated 1,360 people since its founding in June 2014 and congratulated the medical staff for their dedication.

INDIA: Invest in cities, renewable energy, UN envoy Michael Bloomberg tells conference in India

Noting the Government’s plan to install about 100 gigawatts of solar power across the country by 2022, Mr. Bloomberg pointed to the major development benefits that the country could achieve, given the large amount of solar radiation it gets and the reduced level of infrastructure needed to pump solar energy into people’s homes. “Imagine the signal it would send to the world if India were able to achieve its goal of bringing electricity to every household that lacks it, largely using clean solar power – at a fraction of the cost of the conventional grid.,” said the Special Envoy during his keynote address to the ‘RE-Invest’ conference, aimed at scaling-up financing for renewable energy. “It would be a success story told – and copied – around the world.” Mr. Bloomberg joined leading renewables and investment professionals from India and across the world at the RE-Invest conference, as part of a two-day visit to the country in which he advocated for increased renewables, smarter cities, sustainable transport and urban climate adaptation. He arrived at the Conference in a rickshaw powered by compressed natural gas, which is a far cleaner alternative to the fuels that make Delhi one of the most polluted cities in South Asia. He noted that most of the world’s total carbon emissions stem from cities and sources like buildings, transportation and waste, over which at least limited control can be exerted. “Steps to make those systems more efficient also make cities better places to live,” he said, stressing the difference such investments could make. “In New York City, we were able to reduce our carbon footprint by 19 percent in just six years while also making our air cleaner than it has been in more than 50 years, increasing life expectancy by three years, and leading the U.S. in creating new jobs. And India can do the same for its citizens.” Mr. Bloomberg, who was mayor of New York for 12 years, said that those gains came not in spite of investments in sustainability but because of them and he stressed that the most effective economic policies for India would be those that improved people’s health and quality of life. “The fact is: People want to live in cities with clean air and water, good public transportation, and streets that are safe for walking and biking. And where people want to live, businesses want to invest,” he said. “The good news is, as Prime Minister Modi is showing, confronting climate change goes hand-in-hand with smart economic growth. And from my experience, he is absolutely correct to make cities a central focus of his work.” With countries coming to Paris this December to reach a new climate change agreement, Mr. Bloomberg said that no country will commit to goals they don’t think they can reach, or that come at too great a cost to economic growth. However, countries are continuing to move forward because they realise the benefits of action – for their economies and the health of their citizens. “India’s leadership is helping to show other countries how much is possible – by showing that clean-energy, climate-resilient growth is the path to a brighter future,” Mr. Bloomberg said. “We’re all in this together, and we have a great deal to learn from one another.”

IRAQ: Most pressing goal for Iraq remains defeating ISIL, says outgoing UN envoy

Delivering his final briefing as the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq, Nickolay Mladenov today stressed to the Security Council the optimism he feels for the country’s future, while tempering those hopes with fear over the many things that can go wrong.

UKRAINE: UN Security Council endorses Minsk ceasefire, calls on parties to fully implement truce

The United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution endorsing the 13-point accord on ending the Ukraine crisis agreed in Minsk – including a cease-fire – and called on all parties to the conflict to fully implement that cessation of hostilities, as the UN human rights office expressed concern over reported shelling and trapped civilians in the country’s east.