Pakistani cricket star to speak out against drug abuse as UN Goodwill Ambassador

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Shahid Afridi, UNODC Goodwill Ambassador to Combat Drug Use Among the Youth. Photo: UNODCPakistani cricket star Shahid Afridi will speak out against drug abuse and promote healthy living through sports in his new role as National Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Mr. Afridi, a batsman and bowler, was captain of the Pakistan national cricket team from 2009 to 2011. He became an overnight sensation in 1996 when, as a 16-year-old, he made history by scoring the fastest century in a one-day international in his very first innings.

?I have never done anything by halves and I will give my all to my new role of National Goodwill Ambassador,? Mr. Afridi said on accepting his two-year assignment.

?I hate to see drugs ruin thI have never done anything by halves and I will give my all to my new role of National Goodwill Ambassador.e lives of young people. If I can convince just one boy or girl to turn away from drugs I will be proud,? he added.

?He plays with heart,? Jeremy Douglas, UNODC Representative in Pakistan, stated in a news release. ?Shahid Afridi is a role model who can speak powerfully against drug abuse. Young people see in him the courage to push away boundaries and the will to go on when things get tough.?

In his new role, Mr. Afridi will promote healthy living through sports and emphasize positive values and attitudes during visits to schools and colleges. He will also witness the impact of the work of UNODC in Pakistan and highlight the need to curb drug abuse and associated crime.

Mr. Afridi, who has roots in Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa Province and lives in Karachi, has been involved in humanitarian efforts in the past, including efforts supporting the emergency response after the catastrophic floods that hit Pakistan in 2010.

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Cambodia: Ban designates new adviser for Khmer Rouge trials

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Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. UN Photo/Paulo FilgueirasSecretary-General Ban Ki-moon has designated David Scheffer of the United States as the Special Expert to advise on the United Nations Assistance to the Khmer Rouge Trials (UNAKRT), it was announced today.

?Mr. Scheffer is very well qualified to provide expert advice on UNAKRT during this critical phase for the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts Cambodia (ECCC),? stated the announcement.

The ECCC, set up under an agreement signed in 2003 by the UN and the Government, is tasked with trying those deemed most responsible for crimes committed under the Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1979 during which as many as two million people are thought to have died.

Mr. Scheffer, whose designation is for an initial period of six months, replaces Clint Williamson, whose term of office expired on 30 September 2011.

The new Special Expert was involved in the establishment of the ECCC, the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), the International Criminal Court (ICC), and the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL). He served as the US Ambassador at Large for War Crimes Issues from 1997 to 2001.

It was also announced today that Mr. Ban has appointed John Hocking of Australia as the Registrar of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals.

Mr. Hocking has been serving as the Registrar of the ICTY, which is based in The Hague, since May 2009.

He will continue in that position while working as the Registrar of the Residual Mechanism, which was established by Security Council to carry out a number of essential functions of the ICTY and the ICTR after the closure of the Tribunals.

The Residual Mechanism will have two branches, in Arusha ? where the ICTR is based ? and in The Hague, which will commence functioning on 1 July 2012 and 1 July 2013, respectively.

?As its first Registrar, Mr. Hocking will be responsible for the effective commencement of the functions of the Residual Mechanism,? stated the announcement.

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DPR Korea: UN expert urges new leaders to improve human rights

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Special Rapporteur Marzuki Darusman. UN Photo/Paulo Filgueiras

An independent United Nations expert today urged the new leadership in the Democratic People?s Republic of Korea (DPRK) to address pressing human rights concerns and resolve related outstanding issues, including the abduction of Japanese and other foreign nationals.

?Positive engagement of the DPRK with the international community would be welcomed by all quarters, as has been the case with Myanmar, where the adoption of reform processes are welcomed widely,? said Marzuki Darusman, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the DPRK, at the end of a five-day visit to Japan.I call on the new leadership to address all questions and concerns in relation to human rights, and resolve outstanding issues such as the abduction of Japanese and other foreign nationals without further delay

He voiced his hope that the DPRK?s new leaders will use ?the succession as an opportunity to engage with the international community and secure global confidence,? adding that the international community expects that steps will be taken to improve the country?s human rights record.

?I call on the new leadership to address all questions and concerns in relation to human rights, and resolve outstanding issues such as the abduction of Japanese and other foreign nationals without further delay,? Mr. Darusman told a news conference in the Japanese capital, Tokyo.

During his mission to Japan, Mr. Darusman held several meetings with Government officials, national and international non-governmental organizations, as well as individuals, including the families of the abducted Japanese.

?The DPRK should stand by its commitment made to Japan of re-investigating the 12 pending cases of abduction,? said Mr. Darusman. ?The urgency of the matter is clear, the abductees are getting old and so are their family members here in Japan.?

He said that information gathered in talks with defectors from the DPRK indicated that the humanitarian situation in that country remains dire, with serious shortages of food, amid a critical human rights situation.

?I also heard with concern that asylum-seekers from the DPRK are being refouled by neighbouring countries, and that border control has been tightened over the last month or so, which makes fleeing the DPRK more difficult,? he said.

Since his appointment in August 2010, Mr. Darusman has made several requests to visit DPRK, but they have not been granted. In the absence of cooperation from DPRK, he has been visiting other countries in the region ? Japan, the Republic of Korea and Thailand.

He said that he would approach the new DPRK leadership in the coming days to make another request for a meeting and access to the country.

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UN calls on Cambodia to appoint international judge to genocide court

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Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. Photo: ECCC

The United Nations today voiced concern at Cambodia?s decision not to appoint the current reserve judge as the new international co-investigating judge at the tribunal set up to try former Khmer Rouge leaders, saying it breaches the agreement that set up the court.

Yesterday the Government of Cambodia formally notified Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon of the decision not to appoint the current reserve international co-investigating judge, Judge Laurent Kasper-Ansermet, to the position of international co-investigating judge of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC).

?This is a matter of serious concern,? Mr. Ban?s spokesperson said in a statement, stating that the decision is a breach of the 2003 agreement between the UN and the Government that set up the court, which states that the person appointed to fill this particular vacancy must be the reserve international co-investigating judge.

The vacancy on the ECCC resulted from the resignation in October of Judge Siegfried Blunk, the international co-investigating judge, who cited attempted interference by Government officials in the court?s proceedings.

The Government had raised ethical concerns in relation to Judge Kasper-Ansermet in November, according to the statement issued today. The UN thoroughly reviewed the concerns, determined that they were unfounded, and requested that the country?s Supreme Council of the Magistracy proceed with his appointment.

?The United Nations continues to support Judge Kasper-Ansermet and Cambodia should take immediate steps to appoint him as international co-investigating judge,? said the statement.

It added that the newly designated Special Expert to advise on the UN Assistance to the Khmer Rouge Trials (UNAKRT), David Scheffer, is travelling to the capital, Phnom Penh, today for discussions with the Government and senior ECCC officials.

The ECCC is an independent court that uses a mixture of Cambodian staff and judges and foreign personnel. It is tasked with trying those deemed most responsible for crimes committed under the Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1979 during which as many as two million people are thought to have died.

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In Bangkok, UN official stresses disaster risk management following deadly floods

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Margareta Wahlstr?m, Assistant Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction. UN Photo/JC McIlwaine

The head of the United Nations agency dealing with disaster risk reduction met today with officials in Thailand to discuss new proposals on risk management and to urge government support for business continuity plans following the costliest disaster in the country?s history.

The cost of the severe floods which hit the Thai capital, Bangkok, in October ? the worst in five decades ? is estimated at $40 billion. More than 1,000 factories were shut down and 700,000 people were out of work. Over 800 people died in the disaster.

?In each of the last two years 15 per cent to 16 per cent of Thailand?s population has been affected by disaThe cost of the severe floods which hit the Thai capital, Bangkok, in October ? the worst in five decades ? is estimated at $40 billion.sters, mainly floods,? noted Margareta Wahlstr?m, the head of the secretariat of the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR)

?I welcome the details of the government?s plan to mitigate future flooding, including a re-forestation programme and improved procedures around the release of water from hydro-electric dams,? she said.

?What we have clearly seen now is that disaster risk is following economic development pathways in Thailand as it is in many other parts of the world,? added Ms. Wahlstr?m, who is the Secretary-General?s Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction.

?I appreciate from my meetings with the government, private business people and the Chamber of Commerce that the sheer scale of the economic losses provides an opportunity for a major re-think about the role of risk management and disaster risk reduction in preventing a recurrence of this type of disaster.?

Ms. Wahlstr?m met with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Kittiratt Na-Ranong, visited the ancient site of Ayutthaya and met with representatives of the Fine Arts Department, who explained that flood defences were insufficient to protect the heritage site.

?It is important for future generations that the protection of heritage is included in the overall national water and flood management plan,? she stated. ?Climate change and increased weather variability means that we can expect more floods and we need to be prepared.?

According to figures released last week by UNISDR, floods claimed over 5,000 lives in 2011 while storms claimed over 3,000.

In addition, more than 45 per cent of the disasters that occurred in 2011 took place in Asia. Over 85 per cent of those killed and those affected globally and 75 per cent of economic damages were also in Asia.

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UN calls for combining energy access with anti-poverty projects in Asia

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Services that combine access to modern energy for heating, cooking and electricity, with measures that generate cash, supplement incomes and improve health and education would be the most effective energy solutions in Asia and the Pacific, according to United Nations analysis released today.

A report by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) confirms that there can be no development without energy, and that poverty cannot be addressed sustainably without paying due attention to energy services.

The stuEnergy services are often not affordable by the rural and urban poor and on their own have little impact.dy entitled ?Towards an ?Energy Plus? Approach for the Poor? reviewed 17 energy access projects across the Asia-Pacific region to find out what works and what does not in breaking the vicious ?poverty-energy-poverty cycle.? The poor need energy to get out of poverty, but energy alone is not enough, it states.

?Energy services are often not affordable by the rural and urban poor and on their own have little impact,? says Martin Krause, who leads the UNDP regional climate, environment and energy team in Asia and the Pacific. ?The poor need support to generate income so that energy becomes affordable, which in turn will improve household living standards.?

Nearly half the world?s population lacks reliable access to modern energy services. And more than 20 percent of the global population, or 1.4 billion people, remain without access to electricity.

Roughly 2.7 billion people ? 40 per cent of the world?s population ? depend on wood, charcoal or animal waste for cooking and heating. By 2030, household air pollution from biomass use in inefficient stoves is likely to cause more than 1.5 million deaths a year.

The lack of energy access and its impact on health, education and income continue to be a significant cause of chronic poverty, according to UNDP. Since poverty in turn inhibits access to energy services, a vicious cycle develops.

The findings indicate that most energy projects adopt a minimalist approach, focusing on the basic energy needs of the poor for lighting homes, cooking and heating.

However, ?energy services per se do not reduce poverty,? says the report. ?Instead, they transform people from being ?poor without energy access? to ?poor with energy access?.?

?This is because the energy services provided do not open opportunities to poor households to increase their incomes. Therefore, the resources needed to acquire modern energy services continue to be limited, and energy programmes are forced to rely on perpetually unsustainable subsidies,? the report notes.

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Peace process can only be successful if it is led by Afghans, says new UN envoy

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Special Representative J?n Kubi?. Photo: UNAMA/Fardin Waezi

Afghanistan?s peace process can only be successful if it is Afghan-led and inclusive, the new United Nations envoy to the country stated today.

J?n Kubi?, who arrived in Kabul last week to take up his post as the Secretary-General?s Special Representative and head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), told his first press conference that the Afghan people are tired of war and want to move on.

?They would like to live normal lives as everywhere else,? he said, adding that there is support for steps that would bring more stability and eventually establish overall peacThey would like to live normal lives as everywhere else.e in the country.

What is important, he stressed, is that the peace process be an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned process.

?And it can be a successful Afghan-led and Afghan-owned process if it is based on wide participation, on representative participation, not only of political forces but eventually of civil society because it is for the people of the country,? said Mr. Kubi?.

He added that, in carrying out his mandate, he intended to focus on how to help link security and development; to promote and assist an Afghan-led inclusive reconciliation process based on dialogue and consensus; and to promote the rule of law, good governance, strong institutions and human rights.

The UN is currently examining how it can best help Afghanistan as it proceeds with the transfer of security responsibilities and takes greater ownership of its development.

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UN official calls on Myanmar to foster private-public partnerships to support reforms

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Executive Secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific Noeleen Heyzer. Photo: UNESCAP

A top United Nations official called today on the Government of Myanmar to boost partnerships between the private and public sectors to support the country?s recent reforms as well as to help accelerate development and job creation in the country.

?Myanmar is experiencing a new beginning that is generating an unprecedented sense of hope for a future where opportunities are created for all, including the poorest and most marginalized segments of the population,? said the Executive Secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), Noeleen Heyzer, during a meeting with Myanmar?s President, Thein Sein.

Ms. Heyzer noted that investment can play a siMyanmar is experiencing a new beginning that is generating an unprecedented sense of hope for a future where opportunities are created for all.gnificant role in supporting the President?s reform agenda and Myanmar?s social and economic development goals, and added that for partnerships to be successful open dialogue must occur between all stakeholders.

Her remarks were made during a two-day forum organized by the Government and ESCAP in the city of Yangon to forge public-private partnerships.

?We hope that this workshop will help Myanmar?s public and private sectors to respect and build on each others strengths, learn a common language of investment partnership, and create a new environment to achieve key development goals,? Ms. Heyzer said.

The President stated that the country needs ?private sector investment to contribute to national development and inclusive growth,? and affirmed his hope that ?ESCAP will continue to be a trusted partner and help develop a framework for public-private partnerships for development in Myanmar.?

Representatives from Government ministries and more than 130 members of the private sector took part in the meeting, the first in a series that will focus on the infrastructure sector.

Speaking about possible future developments, Ms. Heyzer offered to convene a special session of ESCAP?s Asia-Pacific Business Forum when the international community is ready to lift restrictions on investment in Myanmar.

Last year, Myanmar started a series of democratic reforms that are slowly opening the country.

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Oprah Winfrey godmother to Beyonce’s baby

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International talk show queen Oprah Winfrey is set to become godmother to singer Beyonce Knowles’s daughter Blue Ivy Carter.

According to showbizspy.com, the 30-year-old and husband Jay-Z have reportedly been thinking of whom to give charge of giving spiritual guidance to their 19-day-old daughter. They chose Winfrey, along with the rapper’s best friend Tyran Smith.

Sources close to the couple told website mediatakeout.com they wanted to make sure Blue Ivy’s godparents were not blood related.

Source IANS

STELLA DAMASUS FOUNDATION OFFERS FREE THREE MONTH TRAINING

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Nollywood star actress Stella Damasus is offering free three months training through her foundation Stella Damasus Art foundation (SDAF).

The training is being organized for people that can sing or act but want more training.

Forms for the training are available at Ikeja: Leo’s Bar, No1 Ajao Rd,off Wahum Adeniyi Jones. Surulere: 32 Yusuf Sanusi street, off Adeniran Ogunsanya.

The training was first organized last year for aspiring singers and actors/actresses.

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